Abstract
Falls are a frequent and costly cause of injuries and functional decline in the elderly. Tai Chi is a cost-effective strategy for preventing falls in older adults. Many senior centers have introduced Tai Chi programs to increase mobility and decrease the risk of falls. However, the practice has yet to be widely disseminated to ethnic minorities who are not culturally connected to Tai Chi. This paper describes implementation barriers and recruitment and retention challenges of Arab American participants in a Tai Chi intervention-based health promotion program, including issues related to community organization and staffing, recruitment and retention, need for building relationships, need for translation and interpreters, and cultural barriers & misconceptions. Understanding and paying adequate attention to these challenges may help facilitate in planning other health promotion interventions targeting Arab American population.
Highlights
More than 3.6 million Arab-Americans reside in the United States [1]
This paper describes implementation barriers and recruitment and retention challenges of Arab American participants in a Tai Chi intervention-based health promotion program, including issues related to community organization and staffing, recruitment and retention, need for building relationships, need for translation and interpreters, and cultural barriers & misconceptions
This paper describes an adapted Tai Chi exercise program, program implementation barriers, and recruitment and retention challenges of Arab American participants
Summary
More than 3.6 million Arab-Americans reside in the United States [1]. Metropolitan Detroit has the largest concentration of Arabs in the world outside of the Middle East (California’s Arab population is more spread out) [1] while Arab-Americans are the third largest ethnic population in the state of Michigan. After explaining the intervention program in Arabic and English and had the individuals consented, the center staff coordinator scheduled an on-site screening and health assessment appointment with a RN/project director and a bilingual research assistant at the community center to determine that they met the recruitment criteria and it was safe for them to participate. Based on our previous experience working with Arab-Americans and suggestions from community center staff, a female Tai Chi instructor was culturally acceptable to lead both male and female groups. To help potential Arab American participants know more about balance enhancement exercises such as Tai Chi, the importance of falls prevention, and the benefits of this program, flyers and brochures did not seem to be an effective way for passing the information. All participants in our program were recruited by the bilingual community center staff coordinator through talking to potential participants in person at community center and followed up with phone conversations
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
