Strength-based strategies for addressing racial stressors in African American families: lessons learned from developing the LEADS health promotion intervention.
Timothy Simmons, Mary Quattlebaum, Pamela Martin, Dawn K Wilson
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Recognizing the real-life impact of racial stress on physical and psychological health is vital for creating impactful health promotion interventions among African American families. Despite the known link between racial stress and poor physical health outcomes, no existing intervention to date has targeted stress management strategies to buffer racial stress and build positive health behaviors among African American families. The current study outlines the lessons learned throughout the development of the Linking Exercise for Advancing Daily Stress (LEADS) Management and Resilience program, a 10-week family-based health promotion, stress management, and resilience intervention that aimed to improve physical activity, healthy eating, and well-being among African American adolescents and parents. We highlight the evolution of the LEADS intervention from a health promotion and stress management intervention to a culturally salient health promotion, stress management, and resilience intervention utilizing community-based participatory research strategies. This paper chronicles our systematic journey in making those changes and the lessons we learned along the way. We provide specific recommendations and implications for future health promotion interventions developed for African American families. Overall, we argue for a research orientation that respects cultural and racial contexts, embraces diversity within research teams and self-reflection, recognizes the heterogeneity among African American populations, and applies strength-based approaches.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Behavioral Medicine is a broadly conceived interdisciplinary publication devoted to furthering understanding of physical health and illness through the knowledge, methods, and techniques of behavioral science. A significant function of the journal is the application of this knowledge to prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation and to the promotion of health at the individual, community, and population levels.The content of the journal spans all areas of basic and applied behavioral medicine research, conducted in and informed by all related disciplines including but not limited to: psychology, medicine, the public health sciences, sociology, anthropology, health economics, nursing, and biostatistics. Topics welcomed include but are not limited to: prevention of disease and health promotion; the effects of psychological stress on physical and psychological functioning; sociocultural influences on health and illness; adherence to medical regimens; the study of health related behaviors including tobacco use, substance use, sexual behavior, physical activity, and obesity; health services research; and behavioral factors in the prevention and treatment of somatic disorders. Reports of interdisciplinary approaches to research are particularly welcomed.