Papers, Presentations & Final Reports
Recruitment and Retention of Older African Americans in a Church Based Dietary Intervention Trial: The HEART Nutrition Program Experience
Authors: Marilyn Hughes, Ph.D., RD, Rebecca Mullis Ph.D., RD
Title: Recruitment and Retention of Older African Americans in a Church Based
Dietary Intervention Trial: The HEART Nutrition Program Experience
The HEART Nutrition Program is a church based, 10 week dietary intervention trial, with a three month follow up, aimed at lowering elevated blood lipids in African Americans (AA). This program was funded by a grant from General Mills, Inc. to encourage adults to eat more healthy foods and whole grain ready-to-eat oat breakfast cereal. The program focus included health screenings, dietary consultations for four weeks and daily consumption of whole grain ready-to-eat oat grain cereal for the last six weeks of the program. AA men and women, 40 to 70 years, with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia were eligible to participate in the program. A church based recruitment strategy was implemented because of the significant role the church as in the lives of AA within this age group and the increased emphasis of the AA church in activities related to the health and well being of their members. Interested churches (n=12) were initially identified through a church health ministry recruitment consultant. Secondly, the Program Coordinator, who is an AA dietitian, made additional contacts with other local churches (n=3). Each church was required to recruit a minimum of 20-30 interested participants in order to qualify as a screening site. Each church identified a member from their church who then served as the liaison between the program staff and the congregation. Obtaining the endorsement of the church is key to the recruitment of the program participants and implementation of the program. Approximately 400 participants were screened and less than half of these individuals were eligible to participate in the program based on the exclusion criteria, i.e., blood lipids, blood glucose, and body weight not within the predetermined range.
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