Scaling up the Med-South Lifestyle Program to Reduce Chronic Disease in Partnership With Rural Communities: Phase 2

Purpose: Although lifestyle behavior change interventions are widely recommended to improve health, they are not being implemented sufficiently or equitably on a national scale, particularly in rural communities. The research team has developed and tested multiple lifestyle interventions, which have culminated in the Med-South Lifestyle Program (MSLP), an evidence-based behavior change intervention that translates the Prevention with Mediterranean Diet (PREDIMED) dietary pattern for a Southeastern US population and includes support for increased physical activity. In this research, the investigators propose to identify the most effective and efficient way to scale-up the MSLP for use in public health and clinical practices settings so that it reaches minority, rural, and medically underserved populations. In Phase 2, the investigators will apply an effectiveness-implementation hybrid design to compare two formats for scaling up MSLP on implementation outcomes (primary aim) and confirm the MSLP's impact on behavioral and clinical outcomes (secondary aim).

Participants: Phase II participants include: staff at 20 rural North Carolina sites (10 health departments and 10 federally qualified health centers) and participants from each site (15 each, 300 total)

Procedures (methods): Test the effects of scaling up MSLP using two different formats. Using an effectiveness-implementation hybrid Type 3 design, the investigators will randomize 20 sites (10 health departments and 10 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)) to 1 of 2 formats for delivering scale up strategies: distance (webinar and phone) vs. a blended in-person/distance collaborative format. Each site will collect data on 15 patients (n=300).

Aim 1: Site level: compare the relative effects of the 2 scale-up formats on implementation outcomes (reach, acceptability, feasibility, fidelity, and cost).

Aim 2: Participant-level: assess changes in behavioral and clinical outcomes: (1) self-reported diet and physical activity and (2) weight from baseline to follow-up (4 and 10 months). Compare outcomes across the 2 scale-up delivery formats.