From Research-to-Practice: An Adaptation and Dissemination of the COMPASS Program for Home Care Workers.

The COMmunity of Practice And Safety Support (COMPASS) program was developed to prevent injuries and advance the health and well-being of home care workers. The program integrates elements of peer-led social support groups with scripted team-based programs to help workers learn together, solve problems, set goals, make changes, and enrich their supportive professional network. After a successful pilot study and randomized controlled trial, COMPASS was adapted for the Oregon Home Care Commission's training system for statewide dissemination. The adapted program included fewer total meetings (7 versus 13), an accelerated meeting schedule (every two weeks versus monthly), and a range of other adjustments. The revised approach was piloted with five groups of workers (total n = 42) and evaluated with pre- and post-program outcome measures. After further adjustments and planning, the statewide rollout is now in progress. In the adaptation pilot several psychosocial, safety, and health outcomes changed by a similar magnitude relative to the prior randomized controlled trial. Preliminary training evaluation data (n = 265) show high mean ratings indicating that workers like the program, find the content useful, and intend to make changes after meetings. Facilitating factors and lessons learned from the project may inform future similar efforts to translate research into practice.

Perceptions of Heart-Healthy Behaviors among African American Adults: A Mixed Methods Study.

African Americans have a disproportionately higher risk of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, and hypertension than other ethnic or racial groups. Data regarding CVD-related perceptions and beliefs among African Americans are limited, particularly in the Southwest US. Assessment of current views regarding health and health behaviors is needed to tailor interventions to meet the unique needs of specific populations. We sought to examine knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of African Americans living in Arizona toward CVD and etiological factors associated with health behaviors and chronic disease development to inform state health agency program development. Transcripts from 14 focus groups (n = 103) were analyzed using Grounded Theory for perceived disease risk, knowledge of CVD risk factors, nutrition, preventative behaviors, and barriers and motivators to behavior change. Participants identified CVD, stroke, and diabetes as leading health concerns among African-Americans but were less certain about the physiological consequences of these diseases. Diet, stress, low physical activity, family history, hypertension, and stroke were described as key CVD risk factors, but overweight and obesity were mentioned rarely. Participants described low socio-economic status and limited access to healthy foods as contributors to disease risk. Focus group members were open to modifying health behaviors if changes incorporated their input and were culturally acceptable. Respondents were 41% male and 59% female with a mean age of 46 years. This study provides insight into CVD and associated disease-related perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes among African Americans in the Southwest and recommendations for interventions to reduce CVD risk.

Protecting workers in the home care industry: workers' experienced job demands, resource gaps, and benefits following a socially supportive intervention.

The Community of Practice and Safety Support (COMPASS) program is a peer-led group intervention for home care workers. In a randomized controlled trial, COMPASS significantly improved workers' professional support networks and safety and health behaviors. However, quantitative findings failed to capture workers' complex emotional, physical, and social experiences with job demands, resource limitations, and the intervention itself. Therefore, we conducted qualitative follow-up interviews with a sample of participants (n = 28) in the program. Results provided examples of unique physical and psychological demands, revealed stressful resource limitations (e.g., safety equipment access), and elucidated COMPASS's role as a valuable resource.