A Communitywide Collaboration to Increase Enrollment, Retention, and Success in Evidence-Based Lifestyle-Change Programs in Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Kepper, Maura ; Stamatakis, Katherine A. ; Mudd, Natalie ; Deitch, Ariel ; Terhaar, Ally ; Liu, Julia ; Gates, Emerald ; Williams, Bobie ; Cole, Gabrielle ; French, Carolyn S. ; Hampton, Amy ; Eyler, Amy
• Description:
  Purpose and Objectives
  
  Chronic diseases (eg, diabetes, hypertension) are the leading causes of death in the US and disproportionally affect racial and ethnic minority populations. This disparity is partially due to the unequal burden of unmet social needs that stem from several factors, including racism.
  
  Intervention Approach
  
  The Alliance is a collaboration among health care, public health, and community organizations formed to improve referral, enrollment, and successful completion of evidence-based lifestyle-change programs, particularly among Black people. The Alliance built 1) a system to assess and address social barriers through the screening and referral process and 2) a training center for frontline staff (eg, community health workers).
  
  Evaluation Methods
  
  From January 2020 through September 2022, we conducted an evaluation that included both quantitative and qualitative methods. We developed an electronic database to make referrals and track key barriers to participation. Additionally, we conducted a focus group among frontline staff (N = 15) to understand the challenges in making referrals and discussing, documenting, and addressing barriers to participation. We used surveys that collected quantitative and open-ended qualitative responses to evaluate the training center and to understand perceptions of training modules as well as the skills gained.
  
  Results
  
  Frontline staff engaged with 6,036 people, of whom 847 (14%) were referred to a lifestyle-change program from January 2020 through September 2022. Of those referred, 257 (30%) were eligible and enrolled in a program. Food access and unreliable internet were the most common barriers to participation. Thirteen of 15 frontline staff participated in trainings, and, on average, trainees completed 4.2 trainings and gained several skills (eg, ability to monitor personal bias, de-escalate a crisis, educate on mental health, understand community and environmental factors).
  
  Implications for Public Health
  
  The Alliance is an example of how health care, public health, and community partners can work together to increase enrollment in lifestyle-change programs of residents disproportionately affected by chronic diseases. Lessons learned from implementation and evaluation can inform other complex partnerships to improve public health.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Chronic Disease Ethnicity Health Promotion Humans Life Style Minority Groups Racial Groups
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 2023; 20
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd20.220352
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  37535902
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10431923
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P30 DK092950/DK/NIDDK NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U48DP006395/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/ ; U48 DP006395/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Implementation Evaluation
• Volume:
  20
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ee0743185ae9fc24f1085874b1e2f953dbce8ef1a9fbb69f18d05b202b8caacfabf3b6aae17c042b9a24b5dc19e574e4694e746891df943ccc702e0939099b35
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/151096/cdc_151096_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 605.44 KB ]