Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities: A Rural Community CVD Prevention Program

There are notable cardiovascular disease (CVD) disparities among people living in rural settings, particularly medically underserved rural areas. Complex factors such as socioeconomic disadvantage, social and cultural dynamics, geographic distances/barriers, and limited access to healthcare, healthy foods, and/or physical activity opportunities contribute to the issue. The objective of Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities (SHHC) is to reduce rural CVD disparities through civic engagement and implementation of a community-based intervention in 16 underserved rural towns. In Montana, SHHC builds upon a long-standing collaboration with National Institute of Food and Agriculture cooperative extension educators, who will implement the project. SHHC in New York will work with a health care system to implement the project. There is limited knowledge about how programs and services can move beyond commonly used individual-level approaches-which have limitations in terms of cost, impact, reach, and sustainability-to effectively reduce rural CVD health disparities using an integrated, multi-level, community-engaged approach. The objective of Strong Hearts, Healthy Communities (SHHC) is to address this gap in knowledge and practice by working with residents, practitioners, health educators, local leadership, and other stakeholders in 16 medically underserved rural towns to develop and test a comprehensive program designed to: a) improve diet and physical activity behaviors, b) promote local built environment resources, and c) shift social norms about active living and healthy eating through civic engagement, capacity building, and community-based programming.

FORMATIVE RESEARCH (STAGE1: Completed) The investigators conducted community audits, focus groups, and key informant interviews with members of the above key groups to gather in-depth data about a number of topics related to CVD awareness and risk factors. These topics included: economic, healthcare, and social/cultural factors, as well as, barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and active living. The community audit and qualitative data gathered during the formative research, as well as, feedback from extension educators and the National Advisory Board has informed and been incorporated in the development and refinement of the SHHC curriculum.

RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED INTERVENTION (STAGE 2) In the second phase of the project, the investigators will evaluate the efficacy of the SHHC curriculum in a 24-week community based randomized controlled intervention trial. The investigators will compare changes in CVD-related anthropometric, physiologic, behavioral, and psychosocial parameters between subjects in 8 intervention and 8 control communities. In addition, the investigators will evaluate changes in behavior, attitudes, and knowledge among SHHC intervention subjects' "social network".