Skip Navigation


Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on December 1, 2008
Health Education Research 2009 24(4):622-633; doi:10.1093/her/cyn063
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
24/4/622    most recent
cyn063v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cornell, C. E.
Right arrow Articles by Raczynski, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cornell, C. E.
Right arrow Articles by Raczynski, J. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

A Community Health Advisor Program to reduce cardiovascular risk among rural African-American women

C. E. Cornell1,*, M. A. Littleton2, P. G. Greene1, L. Pulley1, J. N. Brownstein3, B. K. Sanderson4, V. G. Stalker5, D. Matson-Koffman3, B. Struempler6 and J. M. Raczynski1

1 Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
2 Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA
3 Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, USA
4 Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine
5 Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35205, USA
6 Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

* Correspondence to: C. E. Cornell. E-mail: ccornell{at}uams.edu

The Uniontown, Alabama Community Health Project trained and facilitated Community Health Advisors (CHAs) in conducting a theory-based intervention designed to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among rural African-American women. The multiphased project included formative evaluation and community organization, CHA recruitment and training, community intervention and maintenance. Formative data collected to develop the training, intervention and evaluation methods and materials indicated the need for programs to increase knowledge, skills and resources for changing behaviors that increase the risk of CVD. CHAs worked in partnership with staff to develop, implement, evaluate and maintain strategies to reduce risk for CVD in women and to influence city officials, business owners and community coalitions to facilitate project activities. Process data documented sustained increases in social capital and community capacity to address health-related issues, as well as improvements in the community’s physical infrastructure. This project is unique in that it documents that a comprehensive CHA-based intervention for CVD can facilitate wide-reaching changes in capacity to address health issues in a rural community that include improvements in community infrastructure and are sustained beyond the scope of the originally funded intervention.

Received on March 20, 2008; accepted on September 29, 2008


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.