BeFit Toolbox Collaboration: Building Empowerment Through Fitness (BEFIT)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Women's Health; Low-Income Population

Treatments: Behavioral: What I Learned at Home

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06293846

IRB-300012108

IRB Designation (Other Identifier)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This project will identify the causative behavioral factors in low-income African American women leading to sedentarism, a major source of morbidity in HABD communities. Working with our partner, WUCN, we will engage with women in HABD housing to develop and (later) deliver a physical activity education program (BeFit) customized for this population.

Full description

Despite clear evidence of improved health outcomes with regular exercise (see Bliss et al., 2021; Kleinloog et al., 20,22 for recent reviews), national statistics suggest that a mere 48% of Americans meet the recommended levels of physical activity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2018). Alarmingly, fewer than 30% of African American women living in public housing meet these recommended levels, marking the lowest rate among all demographic groups (Lee & Im, 2010; Hilland et al., 2020). Cerebrovascular disease in this population is increasing in prevalence, as is early presentation underscoring the urgent need for innovative, culturally relevant strategies to promote and study the effects of physical activity engagement within this under-resourced community (Turney et al., 2022; Zuellsdorf et al., 2020). However, developing relevant research-based interventions requires understanding and adapting specific programs to local public housing challenges (Casagrande et al., 2008). Mistrust is the primary barrier to relationship development in this population, and engagement with an established community partner is critical for local implementation. This proposal aims to develop a physical activity education program for women at high risk of disease to promote healthy lifestyles and mitigate the risk of neurological pathology.

Enrollment: 50 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Eligibility criteria for participants are as follows: female, at least 18 years of age, mothers of school-aged children (K-12), tenants of HABD in good standing with a minimum of one year of stable living arrangements, and availability during program hours.

Exclusion criteria

• Inability to understand study instructions

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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50 participants in 1 patient group

What I Learned at Home

Experimental group

Description:

What I Learned at Home is a self-efficacy behavioral intervention that will help provide the framework of implementation for the BeFIT program in the future. The BeFIT program will be a component of the WILAH framework.

Treatment:

Behavioral: What I Learned at Home