No time to pause: Physical activity to improve health and well-being of midlife Hispanic women during the menopausal transition - PROJECT ABSTRACT The menopausal transition (MT) in midlife is a critical juncture where women experience life transitions and adverse physiological and psychological changes that increase the risk for hypertension (HTN) and cardiovascular diseases in later life. Physical activity (PA) improves blood pressure (BP), biomarkers of HTN, sleep, mood, and well-being; however, Hispanic women meet PA at lower levels than non-Hispanic White women. A potential explanation is that interventions to increase objectively measured PA are rarely designed to engage, measure, and test the key mechanisms responsible for PA behavior. In addition, contextually appropriate PA interventions specific to the needs of midlife Hispanic women are lacking. The purpose of the proposed mixed-methods K23 Patient-Oriented Research Mentored Career Development Award aims provide the necessary training, mentorship, and research to fill the current gaps in the PA literature. The training and mentorship objectives of the proposed K23 project build upon the candidate's previous training and clinical experience as a registered nurse to focus on the following four areas: 1) understand the menopausal- and aging-related health and endocrine changes of midlife women; 2) develop and evaluate interventions targeting behavior change mechanisms based on the NIH Stage Model; 3) increase proficiency in employing community-based participatory research and cultural competence; and 4) accelerate professional advancement and leadership development. The candidate has assembled a mentoring team consisting of renowned leaders and experts in aging, menopause, behavior change, intervention development and testing, community engagement, and Hispanic health to guide her throughout the K23 award period. The training and mentorship will promote achievement of the following specific aims: 1) identify and operationalize the behavioral, psychological, and social mechanisms that drive PA behavior of midlife Hispanic women; 2) employ community-based participatory research with midlife Hispanic women to develop a novel PA intervention targeting key behavior change mechanisms with the goal of increasing objectively-measured PA among sedentary midlife Hispanic women in the community setting; and 3) examine the feasibility of the PA intervention among sedentary midlife Hispanic women in the MT with elevated BP, exploring changes in PA behavior mechanisms, PA minutes, BP, biomarkers of HTN, menopause symptoms, sleep, mood, and well- being. Findings from this K23 will inform a large-scale randomized clinical trial to test the intervention to improve PA behavior mechanisms, PA, health, and well-being of midlife Hispanic women in the community setting. Completion of the K23 mentored training and research activities will provide the necessary knowledge and skills to develop the candidate's long-term research goal to employ community-based participatory research to develop sustainable interventions to ameliorate the adverse health changes experienced during the MT to promote health and well-being to improve health disparities among midlife Hispanic women in aging.
