TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessing Health Promotion Interventions
T2 - Limitations of Traditional Research Methods in Community-Based Studies
AU - Dressel, Anne
AU - Schneider, Robert
AU - DeNomie, Melissa
AU - Kusch, Jennifer
AU - Welch, Whitney Allegra
AU - Sosa, Mirtha
AU - Yeldell, Sally
AU - Maida, Tatiana
AU - Wineberg, Jessica
AU - Holt, Keith
AU - Bernstein, Rebecca
N1 - Funding Information:
Authors’ Note: Support for this study was provided by Grant
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Society for Public Health Education.
PY - 2018/7/1
Y1 - 2018/7/1
N2 - Most low-income Americans fail to meet physical activity recommendations. Inactivity and poor diet contribute to obesity, a risk factor for multiple chronic diseases. Health promotion activities have the potential to improve health outcomes for low-income populations. Measuring the effectiveness of these activities, however, can be challenging in community settings. A “Biking for Health” study tested the impact of a bicycling intervention on overweight or obese low-income Latino and African American adults to reduce barriers to cycling and increase physical activity and fitness. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in summer 2015. A 12-week bicycling intervention was implemented at two sites with low-income, overweight, or obese Latino and African American adults. We found that randomized controlled trial methodology was suboptimal for use in this small pilot study and that it negatively affected participation. More discussion is needed about the effectiveness of using traditional research methods in community settings to assess the effectiveness of health promotion interventions. Modifications or alternative methods may yield better results. The aim of this article is to discuss the effectiveness and feasibility of using traditional research methods to assess health promotion interventions in community-based settings.
AB - Most low-income Americans fail to meet physical activity recommendations. Inactivity and poor diet contribute to obesity, a risk factor for multiple chronic diseases. Health promotion activities have the potential to improve health outcomes for low-income populations. Measuring the effectiveness of these activities, however, can be challenging in community settings. A “Biking for Health” study tested the impact of a bicycling intervention on overweight or obese low-income Latino and African American adults to reduce barriers to cycling and increase physical activity and fitness. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in summer 2015. A 12-week bicycling intervention was implemented at two sites with low-income, overweight, or obese Latino and African American adults. We found that randomized controlled trial methodology was suboptimal for use in this small pilot study and that it negatively affected participation. More discussion is needed about the effectiveness of using traditional research methods in community settings to assess the effectiveness of health promotion interventions. Modifications or alternative methods may yield better results. The aim of this article is to discuss the effectiveness and feasibility of using traditional research methods to assess health promotion interventions in community-based settings.
KW - Black/African American
KW - Latino
KW - obesity
KW - physical activity/exercise
KW - program planning and evaluation
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U2 - 10.1177/1524839917725489
DO - 10.1177/1524839917725489
M3 - Article
C2 - 28882076
AN - SCOPUS:85041333353
SN - 1524-8399
VL - 19
SP - 573
EP - 580
JO - Health Promotion Practice
JF - Health Promotion Practice
IS - 4
ER -