Cultural Relevancy of a Diabetes Prevention Nutrition Program for African American Women

Diabetes among African American women is a pressing health concern, yet there are few evaluated culturally relevant prevention programs for this population. This article describes a case study of the Eat Well Live Well Nutrition Program, a community-based, culturally specific diabetes prevention nutrition program for African American women. The stages of change theory and principles from community organization guided the development of the program. Health education strategies, including participatory development and program delivery by peer educators, were applied to promote cultural relevance. Results indicated that overall participants (90%) believed the program to be culturally relevant and were very satisfied with the program (82%). Cultural relevancy was significantly associated with greater program satisfaction and changes in dietary patterns when controlling for the number of sessions attended. Conclusions suggest that participatory strategies can be effective in designing culturally specific prevention programs for African American women.

[1]  Paolo Freire Pedagogy of the oppressed, New York (Herder & Herder) 1970. , 1970 .

[2]  P. Freire Education for Critical Consciousness , 1973 .

[3]  R. Andersen,et al.  Societal and individual determinants of medical care utilization in the United States. , 1973, The Milbank Memorial Fund quarterly. Health and society.

[4]  W. Hargreaves,et al.  Assessment of client/patient satisfaction: development of a general scale. , 1979, Evaluation and program planning.

[5]  J. Prochaska,et al.  Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a more integrative model of change. , 1982 .

[6]  Julian Rappapon Studies in Empowerment , 1984 .

[7]  M. Heckler Report of the Secretary’s Task Force Report on Black andMinority Health Volume I: Executive Summary , 1985 .

[8]  J. Flaskerud The effects of culture-compatible intervention on the utilization of mental health services by minority clients , 1986, Community mental health journal.

[9]  S. Kumanyika Obesity in black women. , 1987, Epidemiologic reviews.

[10]  N. Bracht Health promotion at the community level , 1990 .

[11]  A. Kristal,et al.  Patterns of dietary behavior associated with selecting diets low in fat: reliability and validity of a behavioral approach to dietary assessment. , 1990, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[12]  C E Basch,et al.  A Review of Five Major Community-Based Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Programs. Part II: Intervention Strategies, Evaluation Methods, and Results , 1990, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[13]  P L Remington,et al.  The 10-year incidence of overweight and major weight gain in US adults. , 1990, Archives of internal medicine.

[14]  E. M. Bennett Weight-loss practices of overweight adults. , 1991, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[15]  B. Bernstein,et al.  Culture sensitivity training and counselor's race: effects on black female clients' perceptions and attrition , 1991 .

[16]  W F Velicer,et al.  The process of smoking cessation: an analysis of precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation stages of change. , 1991, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[17]  D. Becker,et al.  A partnership with minority populations: a community model of effectiveness research. , 1992, Ethnicity & disease.

[18]  A. Kristal,et al.  Long-term maintenance of a low-fat diet: durability of fat-related dietary habits in the Women's Health Trial. , 1992, Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

[19]  R. Kuczmarski,et al.  Prevalence of overweight and weight gain in the United States. , 1992, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[20]  S. Sears,et al.  Implications of an Africentric Worldview in Reducing Stress for African American Women , 1992 .

[21]  E. Fisher,et al.  Community organization and health promotion in minority neighborhoods. , 1992, Ethnicity & disease.

[22]  S. Kumanyika,et al.  Models for dietary and weight change in African-American women: identifying cultural components. , 1992, Ethnicity & disease.

[23]  J. Prochaska,et al.  Attendance and outcome in a work site weight control program: processes and stages of change as process and predictor variables. , 1992, Addictive behaviors.

[24]  A. Hacker Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal , 1992 .

[25]  Community organization to reduce the risk of non-insulin-dependent diabetes among low-income African-American women. , 1992, Ethnicity & disease.

[26]  S. Randolph,et al.  Making a Way Out of No Way: The Promise of Africentric Approaches to HIV Prevention , 1993 .

[27]  John C. Norcross,et al.  In Search of How People Change: Applications to Addictive Behaviors , 1993 .

[28]  B. Israel,et al.  Health Education and Community Empowerment: Conceptualizing and Measuring Perceptions of Individual, Organizational, and Community Control , 1994, Health education quarterly.

[29]  W F Velicer,et al.  The Transtheoretical Model of Change and HIV Prevention: A Review , 1994, Health education quarterly.

[30]  R. Rudd,et al.  Learner Developed Materials: An Empowering Product , 1994, Health education quarterly.

[31]  A. Gielen,et al.  A Research Agenda for Health Education Among Underserved Populations , 1995, Health education quarterly.

[32]  N. Clark,et al.  Creating Capacity Through Health Education: What We Know and What We Don't , 1995, Health education quarterly.

[33]  H. Neighbors,et al.  Health Promotion and African-Americans: From Personal Empowerment to Community Action , 1995, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[34]  W. Velicer,et al.  Contraceptive and Condom Use Adoption and Maintenance: A Stage Paradigm Approach , 1995, Health education quarterly.

[35]  M A Zimmerman,et al.  Evaluation of Health Education Programs: Current Assessment and Future Directions , 1995, Health education quarterly.

[36]  B. H. Patterson,et al.  Food choices of whites, blacks, and Hispanics: data from the 1987 National Health Interview Survey. , 1995, Nutrition and cancer.

[37]  E. Eng,et al.  A Commentary on Minority Health as a Paradigm Shift in the United States , 1995, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[38]  A Study of Utilization and Satisfaction , 1996 .

[39]  M. Rewers,et al.  Chapter 9 Risk Factors for Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes , 1996 .

[40]  Diabetes in African Americans: a program initiative. , 1996, Journal of National Black Nurses' Association : JNBNA.

[41]  Josephine F. Wilson,et al.  Food Preferences and Eating Attitudes in Three Generations of Black and White Women , 1996, Appetite.

[42]  A study of utilization and satisfaction: implications for cultural concepts and design in aging services. , 1996, Journal of aging & social policy.

[43]  M. Tucker,et al.  The decline in marriage among African Americans: causes consequences and policy implications. , 1997 .

[44]  C. Basch,et al.  Development and Formative Evaluation of a Foot Self-Care Program for African Americans With Diabetes , 1997, The Diabetes educator.

[45]  A. Kristal,et al.  Associations of race/ethnicity, education, and dietary intervention with the validity and reliability of a food frequency questionnaire: the Women's Health Trial Feasibility Study in Minority Populations. , 1997, American journal of epidemiology.

[46]  E. Fisher,et al.  Neighbors for a smoke free north side: evaluation of a community organization approach to promoting smoking cessation among African Americans. , 1998, American journal of public health.

[47]  Evaluation of a program to promote diabetes care via existing agencies in African American communities. , 1999, The ABNF journal : official journal of the Association of Black Nursing Faculty in Higher Education, Inc.

[48]  J. Williams,et al.  Staging of Dietary Patterns among African American Women , 1999, Health education & behavior : the official publication of the Society for Public Health Education.

[49]  Wendy F. Auslander,et al.  The Short-Term Impact of a Health Promotion Program For Low-Income African American Women , 2000 .

[50]  J. Williams,et al.  Process Evaluation Methods of a Peer-Delivered Health Promotion Program for African American Women , 2001 .

[51]  Juanita K. Martin,et al.  Providing Culturally Relevant Mental Health Services: Collaboration between Psychology and the African American Church , 2001 .

[52]  R. Brownson,et al.  A community research partnership to improve the diet of African Americans. , 2001, American journal of health behavior.

[53]  M. Lovejoy DISTURBANCES IN THE SOCIAL BODY , 2001 .

[54]  Laura S. Abrams,et al.  Sociocultural Variations in the Body Image Perceptions of Urban Adolescent Females , 2002 .

[55]  J. Williams,et al.  A controlled evaluation of staging dietary patterns to reduce the risk of diabetes in African-American women. , 2002, Diabetes care.

[56]  B. Tilley,et al.  Recruitment of African Americans with Type 2 Diabetes to a Randomized Controlled Trial Using Three Sources , 2002, Ethnicity & health.