Latinos are the second largest minority population in both the United States and New Jersey. In New Jersey, Hispanics comprise more than 7% of the 60 and older population. Since approximately 78% of older Latinos speak Spanish rather than English in the home, providing a program about cardiovascular disease in this native language is important.
The Your Heart, Your Life program is available on the U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) website in English and Spanish. The program is peer-led by a bi-lingual lay person and includes sessions such as: Are You at Risk for Heart Disease?/Be More Physically Active; What you Need to Know About High Blood Pressure, Salt and Sodium; Eat Less Fat, Saturated Fat and Cholesterol; Maintain a Healthy Weight; Make Heart-Healthy Eating a Family Affair/Eat in a Heart-Healthy Way – Even When Time or Money is Tight. The National program includes nine interactive sessions targeting Latino families, in which participant discussion/role playing/activities are encouraged.
Additional resource materials included an NHLBI video and photonovela (story told in pictures). Optional activities included: screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, weight and BMI; visits to a local supermarket; dinner out at a local Spanish restaurant or a potluck dinner.
Results
Over 230 senior Latino women participated and made weekly pledges to change behavior such as reading food labels, increasing physical activity, and using less sodium in cooking or at the table. An evaluation at one site demonstrated significant changes in knowledge in all program areas including knowledge of how to prevent heart disease (from 33% to 83%), how to lower cholesterol (23% to 100%) and how to eat healthy in restaurants (41% to 82%). They also reported a drop in blood pressure from the first class to the sixth class. Nearly all the participants reported an interest in having additional health education programs.
Nationally published research on the program demonstrated weight loss, lowered blood pressures and incorporation of healthier food choices.
Strengths
The curriculum is available in English and Spanish and led by bi-lingual peer leaders. The Program can be downloaded from NHLBI website. There is no cost to obtain the manual, but program organizers are responsible for reprinting the Peer Leader manual and class handouts. Optional resource materials include photonovela for $2.00, video tape for $5.50, and picture cards for $12.50.
Participants found making weekly promises to make healthy changes very helpful. Healthy snacks were utilized as a teaching tool. The class became a social event; helping people exercise in a group setting was successful (walking in this neighborhood is not safe, so exercises are inside). Women attending the class changed how they dressed and by the graduation day, they were ‘dressing’ for the class.
Lessons Learned
Contact Information
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health
NLHBI Health Information Center
P.O. Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
301-592-8573
Email: nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov
Local Contacts:
Mercer County
Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension in Mercer County
PO Box 231
New Brunswick, NJ 08903
609-989-6835
Email: fountain@rce.rutgers.edu
Union County
Senior Nutrition Program Director
Division on Aging, Union County
Elizabethtown Plaza
Elizabeth, NJ 07207
908-527-4870
Email: jbeaumont@ucnj.org
Bergen County
Bergen County Division of Community Development
One Bergen County Plaza – 4th Floor
Hackensack, NJ 07601-7076
201-336-7200
Email: nbest@co.bergen.nj.us
