Health is Power: An Ecological Theory-based Health Intervention for Women of Color

Overview

Health Is Power (HIP) was a community based health intervention designed to increase physical activity among women of color. It was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The purposes of the study were (1) to determine whether a 6 month, group cohesion intervention is more effective for increasing physical activity compared to a 6 month, group cohesion comparison targeting improving dietary habits (2) to determine whether residence in a neighborhood supportive for physical activity helped women maintain their physical activity from 6 to , and (3) to determine whether this effect was transculturally replicable.

Objective Physical inactivity and poor dietary habits plague Americans as health challenges, with women of color most vulnerable to their detrimental effects. Individually focused interventions have not demonstrated lasting success, possibly due to the lack of focus on sustainable social and physical environment factors. Health Is Power (HIP) was a transcultural, community based, randomized controlled trial that investigated the effectiveness of a group cohesion intervention to increase physical activity in African American and Hispanic or Latina women in Houston and Austin, Texas and then tested whether women living in more supportive areas maintained their physical activity over time. Intervention development was guided by group dynamics principles anchored within an ecologic model. Women participated in three health assessments and a six month face to face intervention that included evidence-based behavioral methods - integrated into strategies to promote group cohesion - framed to account for environmental factors contributing to health disparities. Women participated in team building activities, environmental mapping exercises, and supervised walks or taste tests. Neighborhood contextual and environmental measures were measured to test ecologic factors that may contribute to behavioral maintenance.