Beyond SABOR: A Border Embedded Health Promotion

描述（由申请人提供）：德克萨斯州最南端的下里约热内卢格兰德山谷（LRGV）地区为从生态学角度研究少数民族人口的健康差异提供了独特的环境。该地区的种族构成主要是墨西哥裔美国人，占该地区居民的88%以上。这里也是德克萨斯州最贫穷的地区，失业率最高，年收入中位数最低。LRGV的健康状况不佳，是全国糖尿病和肥胖症患病率最高的地区之一。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) southernmost region of Texas presents a unique environment for examining health disparities in an ethnic minority population from an ecological perspective. The ethnic composition of the region is majority Mexican American with this population accounting for well over 88% of the area's residents. This is also Texas' poorest region with the highest rate of unemployment and lowest median annual income. The LRGV is disproportionately affected by poor health outcomes with one of the highest prevalence rates of diabetes and obesity nationally. This submittal from the Center on Aging and Health (CoAH) at The University of Texas Pan American (UTPA) builds on strengths and resources within the community and long established community relationships that have been instrumental in implementing a broad array of programs and research within the LRGV, a community of identity, Six Specific Aims are proposed: 1. To formally organize a community pro-active health coalition with a commitment to meeting shared health concerns through a common vision that recognizes the need: a) to have a wide outreach, b) bring about contextual changes, and c) sustain itself beyond the period of active funding; 2. To employ focus group methodologies to explore multi level (individual, family and community) factors influencing physical activity and dietary habits of the adult LRGV Mexican American population with special emphasis on local theories and situations; 3. Plan the intervention methodology; 4. Conduct a pilot multi level community-based intervention; 5. Conduct a formative and substantive evaluation of the pilot intervention with special emphasis on assessing its community wide effectiveness and cost; 6. Estimate parameters required to properly design and power a community intervention to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.