The Mexican Consulate runs a Ventanilla de Salud (VDS) (Health Window) program in fifty locations nationwide. The VDS provides an opportunity to provide health services to members of the Mexican community. Some of the concerns previously identified during the work at the VDS were that some individuals did not always get enough to eat, or do not always have enough money for food. This sometimes leads to unhealthy food choices-- buying and preparing foods that are inexpensive but really not good for the particpant. The investigators would like to conduct focus group to help make changes to a new diet and exercise program at the VDS called SANOS which stands for SAlud y Nutrición para todOS. SANOS aims to provide information for living a healthier lifestyle including on how to eat healthy on a small budget and how to become more physically active. The hope is that learning to eat healthy without spending a lot of money and to find simple ways to increase physical activity (like walking) will be a first step in reducing obesity rates within the Mexican community that have led to increased risks for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Participants who reached 6-month follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic, may be outside of the 12-month window post 6-month follow-up, and have not been able to complete HgbA1c and cholesterol measures will be invited to complete these measures in person at the VDS.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
1,785
Individual counseling utilizing MI has been effective in promoting behavioral change.18 A SANOS interventionist (MRNY promotora) will deliver a 45-60 minute counseling session, utilizing MI techniques, on diet and exercise, and how to stretch one's food dollars (see description of 10 modules described above under COMIDA Pilot). The promotora will evaluate the participant's diet based on the 24-hour dietary recall132 conducted at intake (see below), will compare diet composition to the USDA's MyPlate guidelines, and will then personalize education to address identified knowledge gaps and unhealthy food choices. Promotoras will focus on goal-setting, problem solving, selfefficacy enhancements, selfmonitoring skills (i.e., participants will be taught how to monitor their diet, weight, and physical activity (PA), with simple pencil-and-paper logs or with 'Self-monitoring tools' if randomized to also receive that component), and modeling of healthy behaviors.
Text message interventions have been demonstrated to be effective in increasing self-efficacy, weight loss, and PA.65-67 Participants will receive thrice weekly healthy eating, PA, and health care access text message tips. Links to additional information and videos will also be sent via text (e.g. local farmers markets, healthy recipes, free exercise classes, workout videos, video demonstrations of how to prepare healthy meals, etc.). Texts were developed and piloted in the COMIDA Pilot, are designed to promote goal-setting, problem-solving, self-monitoring, modeling, and self-efficacy, and will be further refined during the formative research phase (see below). Texts will be sent via Mosio Text Messaging Solutions. Messages will be concise, as longer messages have shown no demonstrable impact. Based on each participant's status at intake, tailored text messages will also encourage regular follow-up with PCPs. Text messages will be interactive.
Several lifestyle interventions including Hispanics have successfully incorporated telephone support.134-138 Weekly telephone support (or more frequently if requested) will be delivered by the promotoras throughout the 6-month intervention. Frequent and prolonged contact in behavioral interventions is more effective than single sessions; most interventions leading to diet or PA changes persisting for \>12 months have follow-up contact sessions for at least 4 months.18 Greater numbers of follow-up sessions facilitate success of behavior change, and initial behavior change can decrease with decreased contact.18,139 Telephone sessions (10-15 minutes) will use MI principles, will focus on goal-setting, problem solving, reviewing/integrating new diet/PA knowledge/skills (including self-monitoring) into individuals' daily routines, self-efficacy enhancements, encouraging participants to seek opportunities for modeling and encouraging regular follow-up with PCPs.
Self-monitoring is an important component in achieving behavioral change.18 Participants will be given a SANOS food diary (adapted for and pilot-tested at the VDS in our pilot work) and a digital scale. As part of VDS Mobile usual care, all participants will receive a pedometer to assess exercise behavior (secondary outcome), so additional self-monitoring tools for PA will not be included in this component.
Mexican Consulate's Ventanilla de Salud (VDS)
New York, New York, United States
self-reported measures on dietary intake
Using the Dietary Screener of the 2011-12 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)65 to measure diet behaviors of all participants. The information is collected through questions in the following format: "During the past month \["or in the past 7 days" for fast-food consumption\], how often did you eat \[food item name\]?" The questions are often followed by clarification of the food items. The response is standardized to reflect mean per-week intake frequency. (Administration time \~ 10 minutes).
Time frame: 1 year
Decreasing weight by 5% [SANOS]
Time frame: At 6 months post-intake
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