Testing the feasibility and efficacy of the worksite heart health improvement project (WHHIP)

Abstract

Purpose: To test the feasibility and efficacy of the Worksite Heart Health Improvement Project (WHHIP)

Design: This was a quasi-experimental six-month repeated measures pilot study

Setting: Two long-term care (LTC) facilities in the Baltimore area participated in the study

Subjects: A total of 39 female nursing assistants (NAs) participated in this study with a mean age of 42.39 (SD= 12.79) years. The majority were married (n=16, 51.6%), non-Latino (n=14, 77.8%) and African-American (n=31, 93.9%).

Intervention: The three-month WHHIP intervention included three components: (1) environmental and policy assessment; (2) education; and (3) on-going motivation. The control site received education only.

Measures: Measures were collected at baseline, three and six months and included: blood pressure, lipid panel, body mass index, physical activity levels, diet behaviors, depressive symptoms and self-efficacy outcomes.

Analysis: Generalized estimating equations were used to assess outcome variables.

Results: Subject participation averaged 47% and 58% in exercise and diet related activities, respectively. The treatment group showed significant improvements in depressive symptoms (p.012), systolic blood pressure (p.028), total cholesterol (p.002) and triglycerides (p.011) overtime. In addition, there was a significant improvement in average aerobic steps (p.053) at three-months. This improvement was not sustained at six-months. The treatment group also showed positive trends for improvement in diet behaviors (p.069) and diastolic blood pressure (p.073).

Conclusions: This study provided evidence for the feasibility of the WHHIP and preliminary evidence that the WHHIP can improve adherence to heart healthy behaviors and subsequent outcomes among NAs in LTC settings.