Sisters in Action: A Healthy Lifestyle Program for African American Women

Introduction: The Sisters in Action (SIA) Program is a comprehensive healthy lifestyle improvement initiative focused on combating obesity among African American women. SIA modified the existing evidence-based CDC WISEWOMAN program to develop an innovative model combining exercise, nutrition, wellness education, and case management into two 12-week sessions of intervention and maintenance.

Methods: Women with a BMI between 25 and 55 were eligible to enroll. Informed consent and participation expectations were explained. Participants were pre-screened to assess the following exclusion criteria: pregnancy, uncontrolled diabetes or blood pressure, or other significant medical history problems. While no women were excluded, pregnant women and those with abnormal ranges were referred to their health care providers. Total enrollment was 311; 81% (n=252), between ages 23-83 years (average age was 43), completed the program. Eighty-two percent (n=207) completed the intervention/education phase and 67% (n=169) completed the maintenance period.

Results: Sisters in Action obtained a moderate evidence-based rating from AHRQ based on pre- and post- implementation comparisons of blood pressure (59% improvement) and BMI (41.6% lost 1 BMI point minimum). Additional improvements included: increased physical activity (90%) and fruit and vegetable consumption (96%); decreased calorie consumption (91 %); and improved quality of life (100%).

Conclusions: Although challenges of communication, staffing, adherence to eligibility guidelines and program objectives existed, SIA successfully worked with community institutions and members to design, implement, and execute an effective healthy lifestyle program. Participants demonstrated improvements in their their physical and emotional health, built strong social networks and became more engaged in their communities.