StrongPeople Together: a multi-site, church-engaged randomized trial to achieve cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY Effective, locally relevant, evidence-based approaches are needed to improve cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer prevention. ‘StrongPeople Together: a multisite, church-engaged randomized trial to achieve cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention’ aims to reduce CVD and cancer risk in 10 church sites in lower income communities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Program components include experiential CVD and cancer risk reduction classes that include the individual level (e.g., exercise; smartphone application [‘app’] self-management tracking and strategies), social level (e.g., suggested activities with family/friends; social support and engagement features on the app), and community/environmental level using a stepwise civic engagement approach that focuses on catalyzing local changes to increase healthy living opportunities (conducted by church advisory boards). For Aim 1, the team will collaborate with church members and leaders in participatory community-engaged formative research (e.g., focus groups, meetings) to tailor the program. The team will then tailor intervention and implementation plans, using formative results to refine the program and self-management and social support components of the app. For Aim 2, the team will evaluate intervention effectiveness in a community-randomized controlled trial in pair-matched sites, comparing change in the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 prevention score (primary outcome) and other CVD and cancer-relevant risk factors (e.g., diet, physical activity; secondary outcomes) between intervention and control participants. For Aim 3, the team will conduct an in-depth process evaluation to deepen understanding about adoption and reach to inform the training workshop for control churches, along with partners from the Texas Urban Advisory Committee partners. StrongPeople Together, which has a beginning-to-end church-engaged approach, has strong potential to meaningfully reduce CVD and cancer rates and related healthcare costs in urban Texas communities, while also refining a model for national dissemination via churches and Extension.