American Indian Communities in the Dakotas-CVD Prevention Initiatives: The CVD prevention projects include the Pathways Study, a school-based dietary initiative to address healthy eating; SANDS (Stop Atherosclerosis in Native Patients with Diabetes Study); and tobacco abuse interventions at the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health. (Presenter: Best)
Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities (CARDIAC): The objective of this project is to improve student risk profiles for CVD, including obesity, and explore the feasibility of taking evidence-based approaches to scale in the school setting. The project uses a chronic disease risk surveillance and intervention initiative to provide opportunities for West Virginia’s health science students to learn concepts of health promotion and disease prevention, and partnerships with state government, secondary and higher education, and the private sector to reverse the obesity epidemic in West Virginia. This project combines school-based CVD risk screening with evidence-based approaches to address risk among fifth grade students and high-risk youth.24 (Presenters: Stollings and Neal)
Creating Healthy Active and Nurturing Growing-up Environments (CHANGE): This project, a partnership between Tufts University and Save the Children, a nonprofit community-based organization, aimed to adapt and test the effectiveness of a 2-year community-based intervention for obesity prevention in rural regions of South Carolina, the Mississippi Delta, the Central Valley in California, and portions of the Appalachia area of Kentucky.25 (Presenter: Economos)
Delta Health Alliance: Working to improve the health of the men, women, and children who call the Mississippi Delta their home, this project focuses on multilevel activities to increase access to health care and wellness programs and to increase awareness of ways to enjoy lifestyles that are more healthful among residents of the Mississippi Delta Region. Approaches address access to healthy food and health care and shortages of health care professionals.26 (Presenter: Fox)
East Tennessee 2-Step Healthy Weight Initiative: This project uses best available evidence to design a community-based weight initiative focused on both physical activity and nutrition and on combinations of environment and policy and education and counseling in 4 settings (schools, worksites, health care systems, and communities).27 (Presenter: Haughton)
ESENCIAL para vivir Project: The objective of this project was to develop and test a weight-loss intervention for Latina immigrants; community health workers (promotoras) delivered a weight management program in Alabama, 1 of 6 southeastern states with the highest rates of population growth and numbers of recent immigrant Latinos. (Presenter: Cherrington)
Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud: This project examined results of a family-based intervention delivered by trained, paid promotoras to promote healthy eating among Latino families in Imperial County, California.28 (Presenter: Ayala)
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities: This project, 1 of several Robert Wood Johnson Foundation–funded sites, engages community-academic partners in Knox County, Tennessee in efforts to implement multilevel, evidence-based active living and healthful eating initiatives to reduce childhood obesity by building and sustaining systems, policies, and environmental changes. (Presenters: Haughton and Welch)
Puentes hacía una mejor vida: This community-academic partnership research project evaluates a peer-support intervention led by unpaid volunteers to improve diabetes control in Imperial County, California using family home visits, small groups, and clinic tours. Comparison is with paid promotoras offering services through the Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud project (see previous text). (Presenter: Ayala)
Telecardiology Program: The objective of this project is to provide timely cardiology consultations for patients seeking care and treatment at Union Hospital-Clinton, Indiana for low-risk acute coronary syndromes (ACS) (chest pain rule in or out) utilizing live, video interactive telemedicine technologies along with workflow analysis, evidence-based risk stratification, and clinical education.29–32 (Presenter: Laws)
The Treatment of Obesity in Underserved Rural Settings (TOURS): TOURS was conducted to test the effectiveness of various approaches for providing nutrition and physical activity counseling (dissemination) to healthy obese women, 50–75 years of age in rural communities in northern Florida.33 (Presenter: Perri)
Vida Sana: Hoy y Mañana: This project explores social and physical changes in small grocery stores to improve access to healthy foods among Latina residents in Alamance County, North Carolina.34 (Presenter: Ayala)
