Results of ALIVE: A Faith-Based Pilot Intervention to Improve Diet Among African American Church Members

Abstract

Results of ALIVE: A Faith-Based Pilot Intervention to Improve Diet Among African American Church Members Elizabeth Lynch, PhD, Erin Emery-Tiburcio, PhD, Sheila Dugan, MD, Francine Stark White, MDiv, Clayton Thomason, JD, LaDawne Jenkins, MA, Catherine Feit, Elizabeth Avery-Mamer, MA, Yamin Wang, MA, Laurin Mack, PhD, and Alan Ragland, DMin What Is the Purpose of This Study? • The ALIVE intervention is a church-based dietary intervention to increase vegetable consumption among African American church members that was designed by a partnership between researchers, African American pastors, and church leaders in the Chicagoland area. • The ALIVE intervention reflected local community knowledge and values because it was designed and delivered by pastors and church members using a community-based participatory research approach. • The ALIVE study measured the feasibility of implementing and evaluating the ALIVE intervention. What Is the Problem? • African Americans have a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease than other racial groups. Improving diet in African Americans could reduce this disparity. • Dietary interventions have been less successful with African Americans than other subgroups possibly owing to insufficient cultural tailoring and skepticism about medical research among African Americans. • A promising cultural tailoring strategy is to conduct interventions in the trusted setting of the Black church. A number of dietary interventions have been conducted in Black churches and many have resulted in increased vegetable consumption but few have been designed and/or conducted in partnership with church community members. • A community-based participatory approach to intervention development and implementation has the potential to increase church member engagement and intervention effectiveness. What Are the Findings? • The ALIVE intervention resulted in a mean increase of one vegetable serving over 9 months as well as improvements in total diet quality and reductions in weight and blood pressure. • ALIVE was successfully adapted to a range of church settings. Who Should Care Most? • African American congregations. • Health professionals. • Researchers and community members interested in reducing health disparities. [End Page 3] Recommendations for Action • Health disparity researchers should use a community-based participatory research approach to develop culturally tailored interventions to improve health equity. • Programs aimed at reducing health disparities and promoting wellness should leverage preexisting social structures and values within subgroups to promote education and motivation for health behavior change. [End Page 4] Elizabeth Lynch Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center Erin Emery-Tiburcio Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center Sheila Dugan Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rush University Medical Center Francine Stark White Third Baptist Church of Chicago Clayton Thomason Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center LaDawne Jenkins Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center Catherine Feit Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center Elizabeth Avery-Mamer Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center Yamin Wang Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center Laurin Mack Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center Alan Ragland Third Baptist Church of Chicago Copyright © 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press