Project Summary
Background: The prevalence of obesity among Latino children in immigrant families is the highest of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. Recent US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines on childhood obesity management call for intensive healthcare-based interventions to decrease body mass index(BMI) and promote healthy weight. Availability of intensive healthcare-based interventions is limited and, when available, these interventions are impractical for low-income families facing language, financial, and other healthcare engagement barriers. The reduction of childhood obesity disparities for Latino children in immigrant families requires new research that leverages patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) methods.
Proposed Solution to the Problem: Engaging patients, families, and communities in the design and implementation of intensive weight management for Latino children is crucial to inform and improve both patient-centered research and healthcare delivery. We propose the creation of a network of patients, their families, community members, community organizations leaders, healthcare providers, healthcare payors, and researchers in Baltimore. This network will provide input on the design and implementation of intensive community-based weight management programs.
Objectives: Long term, we aim to develop an effective, financially sustainable, community-based intensive weight management program for Latino children in immigrant families that could be both implemented locally and generalized to other Latino communities across the United States. Our goal is to utilize patient and stakeholder engagement to spur patient-centered research on childhood obesity treatment and ultimately reduce obesity disparities for Latino children.
Activities: We will engage Latino families alongside a Baltimore Latino-serving organization in a stakeholder network to develop a PCOR infrastructure for addressing Latino childhood obesity disparities. This stakeholder network will create a strategic plan for developing and implementing a community-based approach to childhood obesity disparities for Latino children that will be presented at a regional dissemination meeting with key organizations and leaders of the Baltimore community.
Outcomes: This proposal’s main outcome is a strategic planning document that will outline priorities for community-based intensive weight management for Latino children created via the stakeholder network with input and feedback from local and regional experts.
Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: The network will leverage existing relationships between Centro SOL and community organizations focused on improving health and economic outcomes for the Latino community. The network will comprise four subcommittees: Patient Engagement, Community Engagement, Research, and Healthcare Delivery. A steering committee will meet every four months and serve as the forum for subcommittee representatives to collaborate and advance the work of the stakeholder network.
Project Collaborators: Project collaborators include Comité Latino, the Latino Family Advisory Board, Latino Providers Network, Friends of Patterson Park, Living Classroom Foundation, the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs, the Johns Hopkins Medicine Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Baltimore City Health Department, Priority Partners, and The Access Partnership of Johns Hopkins Medicine.