The Development of a Tracking Tool to Improve Health Behaviors in African American Adults

Abstract

Although African Americans (AAs) have high risk for cardiovascular disease, few individual tailored interventions are available to improve healthy lifestyles in this population. The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot-test a tracking tool for AA adults to examine the extent to which participants initiated health goals and were ready for change, improved health behaviors (increased fruit/vegetables and physical activity, decreased fat), and perceived the tool was useful in tracking and improving health behaviors. AA adults (n=11, 40 years or older) were recruited and completed for one week the Health Check Report Card (HCRC), a tracking tool that measures types of food eaten and physical activity using a pre-determined point system. Findings showed that the participants at post-test significantly increased fruit/vegetable consumption. The HCRC was perceived as helpful in tracking health behaviors. This study suggests that the HCRC may be a tool to explore in improving health behaviors of AAs.

Dissemination trial for Health for Hearts United: Model development, preliminary outcomes and lessons learned

“…Individual health mentoring included providing support for the health leaders via telephone calls following the training phase to help them in moving forward in health behavior change. Specifically, the HCRC was used by the health leader teams to achieve progress in eating fruits and vegetables and other foods consistent with CVD health, including items low in sodium, sugar, and fat, and to increase physical activity, with worksheets submitted on their outcomes in comparison to specified goals [ 29 ].…”