The impact of lay health advisors on cardiovascular health promotion: using a community-based participatory approach.

Authors: Kim S, Koniak-Griffin D, Flaskerud JH, Guarnero PA.

Overweight and obesity, lack of exercise, and exposure to tobacco smoke are clearly identified behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease. These problems disproportionately affect some communities. To address these problems within one community of underserved Latinos, participatory research methods were used to design an outreach program. Latina lay health advisors (LHAs) from the community were recruited and trained to teach 3 classes on healthy nutrition, physical activity, and maintaining smoke-free environments. Classes were offered in Spanish to adult Latinos recruited through the LHAs’ social networks. Results showed significant increases in scores from baseline to follow-up in overall lifestyle behaviors and all 3 behavioral subsets (nutrition, physical activity, smoke-free behavior). Qualitative findings are also presented. Findings support utilizing LHAs as a feasible and effective healthcare delivery strategy for cardiovascular community health promotion, especially among immigrant populations.