Heart 2 Heart: Pilot Study of a Church-Based Community Health Worker Intervention for African Americans with Hypertension.

African Americans (AAs) have higher prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension than Whites, which leads to reduced life expectancy. Barriers to achieving blood pressure control in AAs include mistrust of healthcare and poor adherence to medication and dietary recommendations. We conducted a pilot study of a church-based community health worker (CHW) intervention to reduce blood pressure among AAs by providing support and strategies to improve diet and medication adherence.

Physical Function in Midlife and Older Adults From an African American Church-Based Health Screening.

Introduction: Limitations in physical function are predictive of adverse health outcomes, and screening has been recommended in clinical settings for older adults. Rarely assessed in community-based settings, physical function could provide insight for tailoring health-related community-based programs and raise awareness about this important aspect of health. This cross-sectional study seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating physical function assessments into health screenings in African American churches in Chicago, Illinois, through a large health partnership and to determine the prevalence and correlates of physical function limitations among midlife (aged 40-59 years) and late-life (aged ≥60 years) participants.

A Small-Changes Weight Loss Programfor African-American Church Members.

Objective: To test whether a previously tested, small-changes weight loss program could be translated for use in African American churches.

Methods: The program consisted of 12 group sessions held weekly at a partner church. Key intervention messages were disseminated via Facebook.

Partnering with Churches to Conduct a Wide-Scale Health Screening of an Urban, Segregated Community.

West Side Alive (WSA) is a partnership among pastors, church members and health researchers with the goal of improving health in the churches and surrounding community in the West Side of Chicago, a highly segregated African American area of Chicago with high rates of premature mortality and social disadvantage. To inform health intervention development, WSA conducted a series of health screenings that took place in seven partner churches. Key measures included social determinants of health and healthcare access, depression and PTSD screeners, and measurement of cardiometabolic risk factors, including blood pressure, weight, cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C (A1C).

Sleep-related attitudes, beliefs, and practices among an urban-dwelling African American community: a qualitative study.

Objectives: Short sleep duration and poor sleep quality are more prevalent among African Americans (AAs) and may be a modifiable risk factor for cardiometabolic disorders. However, research is limited about sleep-related attitudes, beliefs, and practices among AAs. Our objective was to evaluate these practices and beliefs surrounding sleep among urban-dwelling AAs.