Raices: Results Of A Promotores Network In Improving Physical Activity And Diet In Adults Living In An Emerging Latinx Community

Abstract

PURPOSE: Raices was a community health worker (promotores)-delivered intervention to improve physical activity (PA) and diet among Latinx living in an emerging community, an area with a small yet growing Latinx population. The purpose of this study was to examine change from baseline to follow-up in PA and diet in participants who completed the 6-month intervention, in comparison to those in a control group. METHODS: N = 164 participants (n = 78 intervention; n = 86 control) were drawn from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Promotores used an intervention tool offering non-directive social support to assist participants in developing SMART goals to address their life concerns in 8 domains of life (e.g., social, diet, exercise/recreation); the control group received printed materials. Participants completed a survey in Spanish at baseline and follow-up to assess demographics and lifestyle outcomes (i.e., the International Physical Activity Questionnaire [IPAQ]-short form; Starting the Conversation (STC) 8-item simplified food frequency instrument). We ran linear mixed effects models adjusted for covariates (i.e., age, gender, education, total years living in the U.S and body mass index) to compare change in outcomes over time. RESULTS: We recruited Latinx adults with origins from South America (47%), Mexico (28%) Central America (16%) and other countries (3%). Fifty-eight percent of the sample was female ( median age 38 years), and half had a college degree and were living in the U.S for 5 or fewer years. There was a significant intervention by time interaction in total MET min/week with an increase of 2215.82 min/week (618.23, 3813.41; p = 0.007) from baseline to follow-up. There was also a marginally significant intervention by time interaction for total diet score (-0.77, [-1.55,0.02]; p = 0.054), indicating healthier dietary practices at follow-up. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the potential effectiveness of a promotores network in assisting individuals living in an emerging Latinx community to address their own life concerns and improve health behaviors. Future studies should include objective and more rigorous measures of health behaviors with a larger sample to replicate these results.