Abstract
BACKGROUND: Stroke is a disease with tremendous individual, family, and societal impact across all race/ethnic groups. Mexican Americans, the largest subgroup of Hispanic Americans, are at even higher risk of stroke than European Americans. AIM: To test the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive, church-based, multi-component, motivational enhancement intervention for Mexican Americans and European Americans in reducing stroke risk factors. METHODS: Participants enroll in family or friendship pairs, from the same Catholic church in the Corpus Christi Texas area, and are encouraged to change diet and physical activity behaviors and provide support for behavior change to their partners. Churches are randomized to either the intervention or control group. Goal enrollment for each of the 10 participating churches is 40 participant pairs. The intervention consists of self-help materials (including a motivational short film, cookbook/healthy eating guide, physical activity guide with pedometer, and photonovella), five motivational interviewing calls, two tailored newsletters, parish health promotion activities and environmental changes, and a peer support workshop where participants learn to provide autonomy supportive counseling to their partner. SHARE's three primary outcomes are self-reported sodium intake, fruit and vegetable intake, and level of physical activity. Participants complete questionnaires and have measurements at baseline, six months, and twelve months. Persistence testing is performed at 18 months in the intervention group. The trial is registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01378780).