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Wellness for African Americans through Churches (WATCH) Project

An Effective Practice

Description

The WATCH Project was a church-based study to improve nutrition, physical activity, and colorectal cancer screening among rural African American adults. The program compared the effectiveness of a lay health advisor intervention with an intervention that combined individualized newsletters and targeted videotapes. The newsletter and video intervention included four newsletters and videotapes mailed to the homes of participants over the course of nine months. The videos showed members of the community discussing and engaging in healthy behaviors, and newsletters addressed fruit and vegetable consumption, dietary fat intake, physical activity, and colorectal cancer screening. The lay health advisors provided education and promoted social support for behavioral change through the existing social networks within the community. Lay health advisors organized and conducted church-wide activities to spread information and enhance support for healthy eating, physical activity, and colorectal cancer screening.

Goal / Mission

The goal of the WATCH project is to improve diet and colorectal cancer screening rates among African American adults.

Results / Accomplishments

The interventions were compared using a randomized controlled trail to compare the newsletter and video intervention, the lay health advisor intervention, and a control group. The video and newsletter intervention significantly improved fruit and vegetable servings (p < 0.05) and recreational physical activity (p = 0.04), and increased fecal occult blood testing for colorectal cancer by 15% among participants aged 50 and older (p = 0.08). The lay health advisor intervention was not effective, possibly due to limited reach and diffusion within the community.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Nutrition
Primary Contact
Marci Kramish Campbell
Department of Nutrition
University of North Carolina
Campus Box 7461
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
(919) 843-5962
marci_campbell@unc.edu
http://www.sph.unc.edu/nutr/
Topics
Health / Cancer
Health / Physical Activity
Community / Social Environment
Organization(s)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Nutrition
Source
Health Psychology
Date of publication
Sep 2004
Date of implementation
2000
Geographic Type
Rural
Location
Noth Carolina
For more details
Target Audience
Adults, Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Healthy Marin