AJPH
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jul 16, 2008
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
AJPH.2007.125062v1
98/9/1678    most recent
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Plescia, M.
Right arrow Articles by Chavis, L.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Plescia, M.
Right arrow Articles by Chavis, L.
Related Collections
Right arrow Diabetes
Right arrow Community Health
Right arrow Health Promotion
Right arrow African Americans/Blacks
Right arrow Other Race/Ethnicity
Right arrow Cancer
September 2008, Vol 98, No. 9 | American Journal of Public Health 1678-1684
© 2008 American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.125062

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE

Improving Health Behaviors in an African American Community: The Charlotte Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Project

Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, Harry Herrick, MSPH, MSW, MEd and LaTonya Chavis, MS

Marcus Plescia is with the Chronic Disease and Injury Section, North Carolina Division of Public Health, Raleigh. Harry Herrick is with the State Center for Health Statistics, North Carolina Division of Public Health, Raleigh. LaTonya Chavis is with Carolinas Healthcare System, Charlotte, NC.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, Chief, Chronic Disease and Injury Section, NC Division of Public Health, 1915 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699 (e-mail: marcus.plescia{at}ncmail.net).

Objectives. We examined the effect on 3 behavioral risk factors for heart disease and diabetes (low fruit and vegetable consumption, low physical activity, and cigarette smoking) of an intervention in an African American community in North Carolina.

Methods. A community coalition, a lay health advisor program, and policy and community environment change strategies were implemented in a community of 20000 African Americans in 2001 to 2005. Health behavior questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey were administered to a cross-section of the community annually. The results were compared with African Americans’ responses from a statewide survey.

Results. All 3 health behaviors improved in the study population. Improvements were statistically significant for physical activity (P= .02) and smoking (P= .03) among women and for physical activity among middle-aged adults (P=.01). Lower baseline physical activity rates improved to levels comparable to those of African Americans statewide (2001, P<.001; 2005, P=.38), and comparable fruit and vegetable consumption rates became significantly higher (2001, P=.68; 2005, P<.001).

Conclusions. Our findings support the emerging role of policy and community environment change strategies and community participation as promising practices to improve health behaviors in African American communities and to reduce health disparities.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by the American Public Health Association