Applying Innovative Approaches to Design and Implement an Intervention to Improve Cardiovascular Health in Hispanic/Latin communities through Restaurants

此应用程序的总体目标是为候选人Melissa Fuster博士提供基本培训 转变为促进拉美裔社区营养和心血管健康的独立研究人员 通过创新的、以证据为基础的环境干预和政策。拟议的项目回应了 改善拉美裔加勒比社区饮食质量和心血管健康的迫切需要 创新方法。虽然大多数营养干预措施都是针对个人行为的，但仍有迫切的需求 创造支持健康食品选择的环境。餐馆可以成为促进这一变化的工具， 考虑到外出消费食物的重要性日益增长。与跨学科和多学科的 由导师和合作者组成的部门团队，Fuster博士将从实施中应用基于理论的框架 科学开发和测试拉美裔加勒比餐厅在行动(HCRiA)倡议，干预 改善波多黎各和多米尼加餐馆的营养环境。解决复杂和 餐厅环境的动态性质，这项研究补充了理论框架和方法 从系统科学和以人为本的设计。这些方法促进了餐厅的参与 利益相关者(业主、厨师和服务员)识别和解决阻碍更健康饮食行为的障碍 在餐馆里。目标1将使用来自系统科学的参与式小组讨论技术来表征 顾客和餐厅层面的因素，促进和阻碍HC餐厅的健康营养环境。 目标2将应用行为变革轮(实施科学理论框架)和人类- 以设计为中心的方法，让餐厅利益相关者(业主、员工和客户)参与设计 HCRiA倡议。目标3将使用混合方法、准实验设计来对结果进行试点测试 共干预了四家餐厅。研究活动将与课程和指导工作交织在一起 在以下关键培训领域进一步发展：(1)以人为本的设计和系统科学， (2)实施科学；(3)准实验方法；(4)大型项目和资助 发展。这个K01项目贡献了公共卫生方法来改善食品环境，以改善 与饮食有关的健康差距，以及应用实施科学来解决一个重要的证据- 实践差距，没有基于证据的饮食模式来预防和治疗心血管疾病 在社区层面实施。拟议计划的完成将为成功 为HCRiA倡议的全面社区试验竞争R01级资金，支持申请者的 通过在研究人员和社区之间的传播活动进行出版记录，并扩大 营养研究人员的多样性。

The overall goal of this application is to provide the candidate, Melissa Fuster, Ph.D., essential training to transition into an independent researcher promoting nutrition and cardiovascular health in Hispanic communities through innovative, evidence-based environmental interventions and policies. The proposed project responds to the critical need to improve diet quality and cardiovascular health among Hispanic Caribbean communities using innovative approaches. While most nutrition interventions target individual behaviors, there is a pressing need to create environments that support healthy food choices. Restaurants can be a vehicle to facilitate this change, given the growing importance of foods consumed away from home. Working with an interdisciplinary and multi- sectoral team of mentors and collaborators, Dr. Fuster will apply a theory-based framework from Implementation Sciences to develop and test the Hispanic Caribbean Restaurants in Action (HCRiA) initiative, an intervention to improve nutrition environments in Puerto Rican and Dominican restaurants. Addressing the complex and dynamic nature of restaurant environments, the study complements the theoretical framework with approaches from systems science and human-centered design. These approaches facilitate the engagement of restaurant stakeholders (owners, cooks, and wait-staff) to identify and solve barriers preventing healthier eating behaviors in restaurants. Aim 1 will use a participatory group discussion technique from systems science to characterize customer and restaurant-level factors that facilitate and hinder healthy nutrition environments in HC restaurants. Aim 2 will apply the Behavioral Change Wheel (Implementation Sciences theoretical framework) and human- centered design approaches to engage restaurant stakeholders (owners, staff, and customers) in the design of the HCRiA initiative. Aim 3 will use a mixed-method, quasi-experimental design to pilot test the resulting intervention in a total of four restaurants. Research activities will be intertwined with coursework and mentorship to further development in the following critical training areas: (1) Human-Centered Design and Systems Science, (2) Implementation Science, (3) Quasi-experimental methods, and (4) Large-scale project and grant development. This K01 project contributes public health approaches to improve food environments to ameliorate diet-related health disparities, and the application of implementation science to tackle an important evidence- practice gap, where evidence-based dietary patterns to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease are not being practiced at the community level. The completion of the proposed plan will provide a solid base to successfully compete for R01-level funding for a full-scale community trial of the HCRiA initiative, bolster the applicant’s publication record through dissemination activities among researchers and the community, and augment diversity among nutrition researchers.