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

Award Number: K01HL147882
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, & BLOOD INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

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


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $159,208 )
2023	2023	ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, THE	6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE	NEW ORLEANS	LA	70118	ORLEANS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	5	7/6/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$159,208
														Subtotal = $159,208

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $159,796 )
2022	2022	ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, THE	6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE	NEW ORLEANS	LA	70118	ORLEANS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	003	4	7/22/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$159,796
2022	2021	ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, THE	6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE	NEW ORLEANS	LA	70118	ORLEANS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	001	3	2/24/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$134,304
2022	2021	ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, THE	6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE	NEW ORLEANS	LA	70118	ORLEANS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	002	3	7/20/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$0
2022	2020	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	2900 BEDFORD AVE STE 1	BROOKLYN	NY	11210	KINGS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	2	2/24/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$134,304
														Subtotal = $159,796

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $160,010 )
2021	2021	ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND, THE	6823 SAINT CHARLES AVE	NEW ORLEANS	LA	70118	ORLEANS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	001	3	9/3/2021	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$160,010
2021	2020	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	2900 BEDFORD AVE STE 1	BROOKLYN	NY	11210	KINGS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	2	9/2/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $160,010

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $160,474 )
2020	2020	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	2900 BEDFORD AVE STE 1	BROOKLYN	NY	11210	KINGS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	2	7/29/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$160,474
														Subtotal = $160,474

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $160,906 )
2019	2019	RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK	2900 BEDFORD AVE STE 1	BROOKLYN	NY	11210	KINGS	USA	Cardiovascular Diseases Research	000	1	7/29/2019	NEW	$160,906
														Subtotal = $160,906

Grand Total All Awards = $800,394

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

Award Number: K01HL147882

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, & BLOOD INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

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