Linking churches and parks to promote physical activity among Latinos: Rationale and design of the Parishes & Parks cluster randomized trial

Kathryn P Derose; Deborah A Cohen; Bing Han; Elva M Arredondo; Lilian G Perez; Anne Larson; Steven Loy; Michael A Mata; Gabriela Castro; Rebecca De Guttry; Claudia Rodríguez; Rachana Seelam; Margaret D Whitley; Sergio Perez

doi:10.1016/j.cct.2022.106954

Linking churches and parks to promote physical activity among Latinos: Rationale and design of the Parishes & Parks cluster randomized trial

Contemp Clin Trials. 2022 Dec:123:106954. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2022.106954. Epub 2022 Oct 4.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA; University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Health Promotion & Policy, 705 N. Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. Electronic address: derose@rand.org.
² RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA; Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Department of Research and Evaluation, 100 S Los Robles, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA. Electronic address: dcohen@rand.org.
³ RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA; Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Department of Research and Evaluation, 100 S Los Robles, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA. Electronic address: Bing.X1.Han@kp.org.
⁴ San Diego State University, Psychology Department and Institute for Behavioral and Community Health Studies, 9245 Sky Park Ct, #221, San Diego, CA 92123, USA. Electronic address: earredon@sdsu.edu.
⁵ RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA. Electronic address: lperez@rand.org.
⁶ California State University, Los Angeles, School of Kinesiology, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. Electronic address: alarson2@exchange.calstatela.edu.
⁷ California State University, Northridge, Department of Kinesiology, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330, USA. Electronic address: steven.loy@csun.edu.
⁸ Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene, 3401 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90020, USA.
⁹ RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA. Electronic address: gabriela@rand.org.
¹⁰ Pardee RAND Graduate School, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA. Electronic address: deguttry@prgs.edu.
¹¹ Pardee RAND Graduate School, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA. Electronic address: crodrigu@prgs.edu.
¹² RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA. Electronic address: rseelam@rand.org.
¹³ RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA. Electronic address: mwhitley@rand.org.
¹⁴ Archdiocese of Los Angeles, San Gabriel Pastoral Region, 16009 E Cypress, Irwindale, CA 91706, USA. Electronic address: deaconsergio@sgpr.org.

Abstract

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) contributes to positive health outcomes, but a minority of US adults meet minimum guidelines for moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and muscle-strengthening, and Latinos are less likely than whites to meet these guidelines. Public parks can be leveraged for community PA but tend to be underutilized, while churches have reach within Latino communities and can influence parishioners' health.

Methods: We are conducting a cluster randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of a multilevel, faith-based intervention linking Catholic parishes (n = 14) to their local parks on adult Latino parishioners' (n = 1204) MVPA and health-related outcomes. Our approach targets multiple levels (individual, group, church, and neighborhood-park) to promote health-enhancing PA through park-based exercise classes led by kinesiology students, peer leader-led walking groups, park-based church events, church-based PA support activities, and environmental advocacy. Data are collected at churches by trained bilingual/bicultural research assistants using accelerometry, surveys, and biometric procedures. We will implement a set of hierarchical repeated-measure linear models to examine effects on the primary outcome (MVPA) and secondary outcomes (self-reported PA, heart rate/fitness, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body fat, mental health, and perceived social support for PA). We will also conduct a process evaluation.

Conclusion: To our knowledge, this will be the first study examining efficacy of an integrated church and park-based intervention on Latino adults' PA and represents a scalable model of PA programming for low-income communities. The intervention makes use of innovative partnerships within and across sectors - faith-based, local parks/city government, and local universities - further facilitating sustainability.

Clinicaltrials: govID: NCT03858868.

Keywords: Cluster randomized controlled trials; Faith-based organizations; Latinos; Multilevel intervention; Parks; Physical activity.

Publication types

Randomized Controlled Trial
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Accelerometry
Exercise*
Health Promotion* / methods
Hispanic or Latino
Humans
Social Support

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03858868

Grants and funding

R01 CA218188/CA/NCI NIH HHS/United States