Blood Pressure Control for African American Parents and

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Blood Pressure Control for African –American Parents and their Children
Historically, faith-based organizations (like churches) have influenced the spiritual renewal of African-Americans at times of socioeconomic and political crisis. Recently, their role in healthcare has been evaluated through various studies. These interventions are based on the socio-ecological model. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is quite high in the African-American population. Ralston et al. (p. 47-65) evaluated the feasibility and outcomes of a faith-based intervention.
The faith-based intervention aimed to improve blood pressure control in the African-American population. The study population (n=17) for the present study included parents and their respective children belonging to African-American ethnicity. The study participants were selected from three different churches in Florida. The study was conducted as a randomized non-controlled trial. Different interventions were extended to the selected study participants. Such interventions were speculated to improve the cardiovascular health of study participants. The health interventions included appropriate servings of fruits/vegetables, sessions of physical activity and measurement/monitoring of physical health status. The interventions were planned as per evidence-based guidelines. The authors implemented descriptive and inferential statistics (paired t-tests and correlation coefficients) for analyzing the end points/outcomes of the study.

The feasibility study indicated that faith-based interventions are significantly accessed by concerned stakeholders. Such an observation was substantiated by the attendance rates of the study participants. Ninety-one percent children and eighty-eight percent parents complied with the faith-based interventions. The consumption of fruits/vegetables was significantly increased in parents after implementation of faith-based interventions (p<0.02). Moreover, positive trends were noted for body mass index, physical activity, and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP). After controlling for the outliers; there was a reduction in SBP and DBP. The average reductions for SBP and DPB were 6.25 and 7.08 respectively. The study also indicated that there was a significant correlation between consumption of fruits/vegetables and reduction of SBP (p=0.006).
The authors concluded that faith-based interventions are effective in improving the cardiovascular health of concerned stakeholders. The article provided useful insights about the potential of faith-based interventions. The utility of faith-based interventions was unclear to me before an appraisal of this article.
Works Cited
Ralston P, Farmer, T, Young-Clark I, & Coccia C. Blood Pressure Control for African American Parents and Children: Feasibility and Initial Outcomes of a Faith-based Intervention Pilot Study Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice 2016; (9.2): pp. 47-65