A Community-Driven Implementation of the Body and Soul Program in Churches in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, 2011–2014

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Pinsker, Erika Ashley ; Enzler, Andrew W. ; Hoffman, Megan C. ; Call, Kathleen Thiede ; Amos, Sylvia ; Babington-Johnson, Alfred ; Okuyemi, Kolawole Stephen
• Description:
  Background
  
  African Americans have high disease and death rates due to cancer and cardiovascular disease. Health promotion efforts to improve diet have the potential to reduce these rates.
  
  Community Context
  
  Given their importance in the community and the extent of their reach, churches are effective avenues for health promotion efforts targeting African Americans. The objectives of this project were to promote healthy eating among African American church members, engage African American churches in the implementation of Body and Soul (an evidenced-based program that encourages healthy eating), and implement the program in the community with minimal resources.
  
  Methods
  
  From 2011 through 2014 we conducted a community engagement project to implement the 12-week Body and Soul program, which includes demonstrations of healthy recipes and peer counseling, in 20 churches. Participants (n = 310) completed baseline and follow-up surveys on their eating habits and experience with peer counseling. Church coordinators (n = 11) completed a survey evaluating the program.
  
  Outcome
  
  Participants’ weekly servings of fruit (baseline, 4.3; follow-up, 5.4; P < .001) and vegetables (baseline, 4.5; follow-up, 5.3; P < .001) increased. Church coordinators reported enthusiasm about Body and Soul at their church, and 10 of 11 church coordinators indicated that their pastor encouraged members to attend Body and Soul events. Program success was promoted by engaging the pastor in program activities and by scheduling events soon after church services. Implementation challenges were variation in peer counseling among churches and low turnout at follow-up events.
  
  Interpretation
  
  The project was successfully implemented in the 20 churches, and increases in healthy eating were observed. This project demonstrated that Body and Soul can be implemented in communities with little funds or other resources.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Community Case Study
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 14.
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd14.160386
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  28333599
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5364732
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R25 CA163184/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States ; T32 CA163184/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States
• Volume:
  14
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6a288a46ae6ad7bc254242dce424f33cdcd5ec16f5a8c92d83d2e362b8ec3e5c1c2da236f6c6a2d87d1b98c4f1a84c3ca640676732a5eb2fcf2e70f8c2416174
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/45136/cdc_45136_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1010.96 KB ]