Online Program

333605
Community Fitness Passport Program: A culturally-tailored model for health promotion programming in population health management


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Nyahne Bergeron, MPH, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Yue Gao, MPH, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Daniel Rowell, BA, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, IL
Monica E. Peek, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Background: Recent health policy reforms have incentivized healthcare organizations to collaborate with community organizations to improve population health. Such efforts are particularly relevant for minority populations, who have a higher burden of chronic disease and fewer community resources.

Methods: The Community Fitness Passport Program (CFPP), a collaborative effort between an academic medical center and several community organizations, is a culturally-tailored program that addresses known barriers to physical activity among low-income African-Americans in the South Side of Chicago. Medical center patients and community members were recruited for the 10-week program, in which participants used ‘passports’ to explore community resources (e.g. local churches, YMCAs, park districts) and participated in culturally-tailored physical activities (e.g. Zumba, gospel and soul-infused aerobics). Pre/post surveys measuring reported barriers, knowledge, attitudes and stages of change, clinical variables (BMI), and attendance rates were used to assess program effectiveness. McNemar's test and t-tests were used; statistical significance was defined as a p-value <0.05.

Results: Twenty-five participants were enrolled, 60% attended > 3 sessions (mean: 7.6). The majority (77%) rated the program as “excellent”. Post-program, participants reported decreased exercise barriers, greater knowledge of exercise benefits, improved quality of health, and advances in exercise stages of change (to action and maintenance) (p<0.05 for all measures). Participants experienced a mean decrease in BMI of 0.2.

Conclusion: The CFPP improved knowledge and physical activity among participants. Interventions such as this can inform planning for future healthcare-community programs and health policy initiatives targeting population health management and healthcare payment reform.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Chronic disease management and prevention
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Explain the barriers to, and facilitators of, physical activity adoption for disease maintenance among minority adults with diabetes. Discuss how culturally-tailored exercise programs can inform planning for collaborative academic-community health interventions and health policy initiatives.

Keyword(s): Physical Activity, Health Promotion and Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am currently a Project Manager with a research project which aims to address the factors that drive diabetes disparities among minorities living in and around the University of Chicago area in Chicago's South Side. I have a Master of Public Health degree, and I have an interest in health disparities research and health promotion efforts, particularly among underserved communities. I was responsible for the planning and implementation of the program described in the abstract.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.