EPIPHANY
Equity in Prevention and Progression of Hypertension by Addressing barriers to Nutrition and Physical Activity
Led by Dr. Andrea Cherrington from University of Alabama at Birmingham and Dr. Shakia Hardy from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the EPIPHANY team aims to prevent hypertension in Black adults by address barriers to nutrition and physical activity.
About EPIPHANY
The EPIPHANY study works with 30 churches in rural Alabama to recruit Black adults with elevated but unmedicated high blood pressure to take part in one of two interventions. People from fifteen of the churches will receive group health education and personal tablets to access online cooking shows and exercise classes. People in the other fifteen churches will get support from a health coach over the telephone to help set and meet diet and physical activity goals. These participants will also receive the group health education and tablets to access online cooking shows and exercise classes and some of them will be encouraged to sign up as health coaches. The churches will also receive funds to help bring healthy foods and/or physical activity opportunities to their communities.
EPIPHANY by the numbers
EPIPHANY Community Partners
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The Rural Alabama Prevention Center (RAPC) is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation that received funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Delta States Rural Development Network Grant Program in 2016 to implement health initiatives in churches located within 18 Alabama counties comprising the Alabama Black Belt. EPIPHANY furthers this initiative by collaborating with RAPC to engage rural Alabama churches and the church leadership in developing and promoting a wellness program designed to help their congregations, and their church communities, lead a heart-healthy lifestyle. EPIPHANY also utilizes the infrastructure of RAPC community health workers across rural Alabama to identify potential study participants.
EPIPHANY & RAPC
Connection Health (CH) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that trains and employs CHWs to address the needs of the most vulnerable residents. Currently, CH serves residents of Birmingham, AL and the rural southern region of Alabama, providing community-based support to achieve healthier lives and self-manage health conditions including hypertension. To implement the peer coach intervention, EPIPHANY partnered with CH to train community health workers to: a) support study participants in setting and maintaining healthy lifestyle goals and b) link participants to community resources to address barriers to adopting a healthy lifestyle.
EPIPHANY & Connection Health
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, AL. Tuskegee is in AL’s rural ‘Black Belt’ that refers to the rich soil; however, this region is home to a population that is 70% African American, where disease burden and health disparities are greater compared to its urban areas. EPIPHANY partners with Dr. Norma Dawkins, a food & nutritional scientist at Tuskegee, who provides extensive expertise on healthy diets coupled with knowledge of rural Alabama communities and key stakeholders. Dr. Dawkins lends her significant expertise to facilitate in the development and implementation of the EPIPHANY study’s peer-support intervention and as an expert in community engagement will help to facilitate events for dissemination.
EPIPHANY & Tuskegee University
"If you eat healthy, you can prevent hypertension. But in some communities that is easier said than done, especially in rural areas."-
Dr. Andrea Cherrington