The North Carolina Black Churches United for Better Health Project: Intervention and Process Evaluation

Abstract

The North Carolina Black Churches United for Better Health project was a 4-year intervention trial that successfully increased fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption among rural African American adults, for cancer and chronic disease prevention. The multicomponent intervention was based on an ecological model of change. A process evaluation that included participant surveys, church reports, and qualitative interviews was conducted to assess exposure to, and relative impact of, interventions. Participants were 1,198 members of 24 intervention churches who responded to the 2-year follow-up survey. In addition, reports and interviews were obtained from 23 and 22 churches, respectively. Serving more F&V at church functions was the most frequently reported activity and had the highest perceived impact, followed by the personalized tailored bulletins, pastor sermons, and printed materials. Women, older individuals, and members of smaller churches reported higher impact of certain activities. Exposure to interventions was associated with greater F&V intake. A major limitation was reliance on church volunteers to collect process data.

A nutrition labeling intervention in worksite cafeterias: an implementation evaluation across two large catering companies in the Netherlands

“…The finding that complexity in the sense of time proved to be a predictor of the frequency implementation is in accordance with other studies: time seems to be a frequently mentioned barrier to implementation (Campbell et al, 2000;Dusenbury, et al, 2003;Steenhuis et al, 2004;Thaker et al, 2008). In this study, the main time-consuming element appears to be the weighing of the ingredients for the preparation of the fresh Choices products, as indicated by the catering managers.…”

Public health and church-based constructions of HIV prevention: black Baptist perspective

“…. has happened here [Female focus group, ages [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Applying PwP in black Baptist churches All but one participant agreed that the church should promote PwP strategies. Though most respondents supported both a public health and church-based approach to PwP, the need for public disclosure and forgiveness in the church-based perspective presented a critical incompatibility.…”

“…In addition to catalyzing social, political and educational improvements, the black church has successfully partnered with public health researchers and practitioners to promote adoption of a range of health behaviors, including fruit and vegetable consumption [26][27][28][29], physical activity and weight loss [29,30], and mammography screening [23]. Despite this ability to promote health [22] and shape members' perceptions of health behaviors [31], the involvement of black churches in sexually transmitted HIV prevention has been limited [32][33][34][35].…”

The feasibility of a spirituality-based wellness program on stress reduction and health behavior change

“…The pastor and pastoral staff at the church setting were available and willing to meet with the study investigator for the content and implementation of the program. Positive health values can be endorsed through programs that are supported by clergy and other church leaders (Cook, 1997;Campbell, Motsinger, Ingram, Jewell, Makarushka, Beatty et al, 2000). The initial meetings were beneficial since they allowed the leadership to fully understand the content of what was delivered and the importance of the material that we would be delivered.…”