Designing for Multilevel Behavior Change: A Father-Focused Nutrition and Physical Activity Program for Mexican-Heritage Families in South Texas Border Communities

Abstract

Fathers significantly influence family functioning, as coparents and partners, and must be part of family-based approaches to behavioral health interventions or programs. But little is known regarding how to support Latino fathers in health promotion within their family systems, specifically for Latino families living in border communities. Program development was embedded in a larger community-based grant and part of a longstanding academic-community collaboration. An interdisciplinary research team applied theories related to health behavior, family systems, behavior change, and community engagement to develop a father-focused and family-centered behavioral program for Mexican-heritage fathers and children living near the Texas-Mexico border to support changes in nutrition and physical activity at the individual and family levels. Promotoras de salud (trained community health workers) delivered the program through group sessions, check-in calls, and at-home activities. Group session activities were designed to engage family triads and dyads using experiential education related to nutrition and physical activity, like cooking lessons and active play, over a six-week period. Future research can use the program approach and curricula as a roadmap for designing context-specific and culturally-relevant programs for Latino families. Additional research is needed to explore how approaches like this can support families and their health goals.

Promotoras de Salud in a Father-Focused Nutrition and Physical Activity Program for Border Communities: Approaches and Lessons Learned from Collaboration

“…(HEPP, Make Room for Daddy!) program [ 21 ]. The HEPP program was part of a large U.S. Department of Agriculture grant called Salud para Usted y Su Familia (SPUSF, Health for You and Your Family), which focused on health promotion for Mexican-heritage families in south Texas (USDA NIFA 2015-68001-23234).…”

“…The HEPP program was part of a large U.S. Department of Agriculture grant called Salud para Usted y Su Familia (SPUSF, Health for You and Your Family), which focused on health promotion for Mexican-heritage families in south Texas (USDA NIFA 2015-68001-23234). Briefly, eligible participants for the behavioral program were: parents (male and female) 21 years old or older and self-identifying as Mexican (participant, parent, or grandparent born in Mexico); parents who preferred to speak, read, and write in Spanish; cohabitating with partner or spouse and a child between 9 and 11 years at enrollment (or the start of the program); able to complete in-home measurement visits pre-and post-program and commit to full participation in the 6-week program; and parents who had lived in the colonia (or neighborhood cluster) for at least one year [ 21 ].…”

“…Another article reports on the interviewer-administered surveys with mothers [ 24 ]. Promotoras walked neighborhoods or went “door to door” and identified potential respondents based on the eligibility criteria that we used in the HEPP program [ 21 ]. Data were collected from 334 mothers using open- and closed-ended questions.…”

“…The HEPP program consisted of six weekly in-person sessions focused on family functioning, nutrition, and physical activity, along with at-home activities and check-ins. A separate article presents the details of the program [ 21 ]. Before the promotoras offered the program to participating families, the promotoras pre-tested individual components of the program, including measurements, and then delivered the full six-session program to two volunteer families.…”

“…The promotoras were involved in discussions related to both outcome and process evaluations. A separate article describes the outcome and process evaluations in more detail [ 21 ].…”