Background Latino immigrants have high rates of obesity and face barriers to weight loss. Objective Evaluate the effectiveness of a case-management (CM) intervention with and without community health workers (CHWs) for weight loss. Design Two-year, randomized controlled trial comparing two interventions to each other and to usual care (UC). Participants/setting Eligible participants included Latinos with a Body Mass Index of 30-60 and one or more heart disease risk factors. The 207 participants recruited from 2009-2011 had a mean age of 47 years and were mostly female (77%). At 24 months, 86% of the sample was assessed. Intervention The CM+CHW (n=82) and CM (n=84) interventions were compared to each other and to UC (n=41). Both included an intensive 12 month phase followed by 12 months of maintenance. The CM+CHW group received home visits. Main outcome measures Weight change at 24 months. Statistical Analyses Generalized estimating equations using intent-to-treat. Results At 6 months, mean weight loss in the CM+CHW arm was −2.1 kg (95% CI −2.8, −1.3) or −2% of baseline weight (−1%, −2%) compared to −1.6 kg (−2.4, −0.7; % weight change: −2%, −1%, −3%) in CM and −0.9 kg (−1.8, 0.1; % weight change: −1%, 0%, −2%) in UC. By 12 and 24 months, differences narrowed and CM+CHW was no longer statistically distinct. Men achieved greater weight loss than women in all groups at each time point (p<0.05). At 6 months, men in the CM+CHW arm lost more weight (−4.4 kg, −6.0, −2.7) compared to UC (−0.4 kg, −2.4, 1.5), but by 12 and 24 months differences were not significant. Conclusions Incorporation of CHWs may help promote early weight loss, especially among men, but it did not achieve weight maintenance. Social and environmental influences may need to be addressed to achieve sustained weight loss in Latino immigrant populations.

Background Many Latinos are insufficiently active, partly due to neighborhoods with little environmental support for physical activity. Multi-level approaches are needed to create health-promoting neighborhoods in disadvantaged communities. Methods Participant “citizen scientists” were adolescent (n=10, mean age=12.8±0.6 years) and older adult (n=10, mean age=71.3±6.5 years), low income Latinos in North Fair Oaks, California. Citizen scientists conducted environmental assessments to document perceived barriers to active living using the Stanford Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool, which records GPS-tracked walking routes, photographs, audio narratives, and survey responses. Using a community-engaged approach, citizen scientists subsequently attended a community meeting to engage in advocacy training, review assessment data, prioritize issues to address and brainstorm potential solutions and partners. Results Citizen scientists each conducted a neighborhood environmental assessment and recorded 366 photographs and audio narratives. Adolescents (n=4), older adults (n=7) and community members (n=4) collectively identified reducing trash and improving personal safety and sidewalk quality as the priority issues to address. Three adolescent and four older adult citizen scientists volunteered to present study findings to key stakeholders. Conclusions This study demonstrated that with minimal training, low-income, Latino adolescent and older adult citizen scientists can: 1) use innovative technology to gather information about features of their neighborhood environment that influence active living, 2) analyze their information and identify potential solutions, and 3) engage with stakeholders to advocate for the development of healthier neighborhoods.

Creating environments that support healthy eating is important for successful aging, particularly in light of the growing population of older adults in the United States. There is an urgent need to identify innovative upstream solutions to barriers experienced by older adults in accessing and buying healthy food. FEAST (Food Environment Assessment STudy) is an effort that is part of the global Our Voice initiative, which utilizes a combination of technology and community-engaged methods to empower citizen scientists (i.e., community residents) to: (1) use the Healthy Neighborhood Discovery Tool (Discovery Tool) mobile application to collect data (geocoded photos, audio narratives) about aspects of their environment that facilitate or hinder healthy living; and (2) use findings to advocate for change in partnership with local decision and policy makers. In FEAST, 23 racially/ethnically diverse, low-income, and food-insecure older adults residing in urban, North San Mateo County, CA, were recruited to use the Discovery Tool to examine factors that facilitated or hindered their access to food as well as their food-related behaviors. Participants collectively reviewed data retrieved from the Discovery Tool and identified and prioritized important, yet feasible, issues to address. Access to affordable healthy food and transportation were identified as the major barriers to eating healthfully and navigating their neighborhood food environments. Subsequently, participants were trained in advocacy skills and shared their findings with relevant decision and policymakers, who in turn dispelled myths and discussed and shared resources to address relevant community needs. Proximal and distal effects of the community-engaged process at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months were documented and revealed individual-, community-, and policy-level impacts. Finally, FEAST contributes to the evidence on multi-level challenges that low-income, racially/ethnically diverse older adults experience when accessing, choosing and buying healthy foods.

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