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(Reuters Health) – Lifestyle interventions delivered by African-Americans, a new study finds.
Hypertensive church members who attended weekly sessions in the area of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Gbenga Ogedegbe, a professor of population health and medicine at the NYU School of Medicine, said that "a program of lifestyle change is being delivered by the health care system. in New York City.
Populations reached by this intervention often have less access to medical care, Ogedegbe said.
The new study, dubbed FAITH (Faith-Based Approaches in the Treatment of Hypertension), enrolled 373 black men and women with blood pressure levels of at least 140/90 mmHg, or 130/80 mmHg among those who also had diabetes or chronic kidney disease. Participants were all expected at 32 African-American churches.
In half of the churches, participants received the full intervention, including 11 90-minute sessions that focused on recommended health behavior changes, such as adoption of a diet low in salt and fat and high in fruits and vegetables, increased physical activity and weight loss , Ogedegbe said. The curriculum of the sessions was adapted to the church and included in the prayer, scripture and faith-based discussion. Along with the 11 sessions, participants also received three phone motivational phone calls.
In the other churches, participants got just one session on lifestyle and hypertension management and then 10 additional sessions on health education topics that were led by health experts.
At six months, both groups had significant drops in blood pressure (the top number). The full intervention group saw an average of 16.53 mmHg, while the control group saw an average reduction of 10.74 mmHg.
The difference between the groups is spurring Ogedegbe and their colleagues to tweak their intervention to make it even more effective.
The new results were not surprising to Naa-Solo Tettey, coordinator of cardiovascular health education and outreach coordinator at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute and director of the HeartSmarts program at New York-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City.
"Working with faith-based organizations creates a structure of spells," Tettey said. "The weekly sessions they were holding are similar to those of other faith-based programs. You are looking for changes in health outcomes with these. "
Tettey believes the secret of success is long term interventions, like the one used in the new study.
"More than just an initial intervention, there is need for some kind of health coaching," she said. "I found that there is a major disconnect when it comes to nutrition. People do not know what's in a healthy diet. So it's important to have a nutritionist on board. "
An even more effective approach to church service, Tettey suggests. "The idea is to make a connection between the body temple and health behaviors," she explained. "We do not use biblical scriptures to help them connect with the message. If your body is a temple, then it's important how you treat it. "
SOURCE: bit.ly/2NC3A0g Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, online October 9, 2018.
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