Strong Women - Healthy Hearts (also called StrongPeople Healthy Weight)

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Strong Women – Healthy Hearts is a lifestyle intervention to promote cardiovascular health among rural middle-aged women through physical activity and healthy eating. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, claiming 500,000 lives per year. Strong Women – Healthy Hearts is a targeted education and behavioral prevention program created by Tufts University and run by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service of the US Department of Agriculture. The program focuses on non-metropolitan or completely rural counties in Arkansas and Kansas and includes women aged 40 or older with a body mass index (BMI: weight in kg divided by height in meters squared) of greater than 24. The intervention consists of classes twice a week for 12 weeks with a physical activity and dietary components. In the physical activity component women work their way up to 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic activity and are encouraged to increase lower-intensity lifestyle physical activity outside of the class. During the dietary portion of the class women learn healthy eating patterns, self-monitoring of food-intake, skills building for meal preparation, supermarket shopping, restaurant eating, and hands-on recipe preparation in small groups.

Goal / Mission

The goal of Strong Women – Healthy Hearts is to decrease cardiovascular disease among middle-aged women through behavioral changes in diet and physical activity.

Results / Accomplishments

Women in intervention groups show significant decrease in body weight (-2.1 kg), BMI (-0.8 kg/ m2), and waist circumference (-2.3 inches) when compared to the control group. These changes are strongly correlated with reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease. They significantly decrease their daily caloric intake an average of 390 calories over the control groups, with significant decreases in carbohydrate, fat, and cholesterol consumption. Women in the intervention group walk a flat 2 km course significantly faster than those who did not receive the intervention and show greater steps per day on pedometer readings.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
StrongPeople
Primary Contact
Rebecca Seguin-Fowler
StrongPeople
3913 Walnut Clay Dr
Austin, TX 78731
617-308-1781
info@strongpeopleprogram.org
http://www.strongpeopleprogram.org
Topics
Health / Physical Activity
Health / Wellness & Lifestyle
Organization(s)
StrongPeople
Source
American Journal of Public Health
Date of publication
Jul 2009
Date of implementation
2007
Geographic Type
Rural
For more details
https://www.strongpeopleprogram.org/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19443826
Target Audience
Adults, Women

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  4. The Wray Health Initiative
  5. Pasos Adelante
  6. Physical Activity and Teenage Health (PATH) Program

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.