A Faith-based Physical Activity Intervention for Latinos: Outcomes and Lessons

Purpose: To develop, implement, and evaluate a pilot faith-based physical activity (PA) intervention for Latinos.

Design: Randomized trial, with two churches receiving the intervention and one church serving as a comparison group.

Setting: Three Catholic churches near Manhattan, Kansas.

Subjects: A subsample of the congregation from the intervention churches (n  =  24) and comparison church (n  =  23) volunteered to take part in the assessment.

Intervention: Culturally and spiritually relevant education materials and activities were developed promoting the health benefits of PA. Educational materials included flyers, bulletin inserts, and posters. An 8-week team based walking contest promoted social support for PA. A health "fiesta" provided hands-on educational opportunities for PA.

Measures: Organizational and individual process evaluation outcomes were assessed at baseline and 6 months. Interviews with church contacts at 6 months documented successes and struggles with implementation. Individual-level variables assessed knowledge related to PA and exposure to the intervention.

Analysis: Basic frequencies and descriptive statistics were used.

Results: Compared with 36% of comparison participants, 66% of intervention participants identified health reasons for participating in PA, and 47% accurately described PA recommendations, compared with 16% of comparison participants. Process evaluation revealed implementation successes and struggles, including communication problems with church contacts and difficulty in creating a large exposure to intervention materials.

Conclusions: This pilot study provides formative research for developing larger faith-based PA interventions targeting Latinos.