Interventions for Health-promotion in Oncology and Obesity in Pediatrics (I-HOPE)

ADAPT+ project focuses on Latino families living in rural communities with a child between[MS1]  8-12 years old who is overweight or obese (BMI over 85%). The purpose of this study is to optimize an obesity intervention with rural underserved Latino children and their parents that combines a standard family-based behavioral approach, the “gold standard” for pediatric obesity treatment, with a mindfulness approach focusing on stress reduction. Long work hours, common among migrant worker families, can reduce parent involvement, including uninvolved feeding style, which can increase risk of obesity in youths. Specifically, parent stress is associated with decreased physical activity, overeating and higher body weight in both children and parents. With our program, we aim to integrate mindfulness stress reduction strategies to increase healthy lifestyle behaviors consistent with the needs of Latinos living in rural communities. To implement this project, we partnered with Hispanic Services Council and trained community health workers to implement the intervention sessions with parents.

ADAPT Project Mindfulness Videos (en enpanol)

• Clase 2. Escaneo Corporal
• Clase 3. Respiración Plena
• Clase 4. Estiramiento Pleno
• Clase 5. Alimentación Plena Largo
• Clase 6. Escaneo Corporal Dormir

Pediatric/adolescents and young adult patients treated for cancer are at higher risk than the general population for obesity, diminished exercise capacity, hypertension and metabolic syndrome features related to cardiovascular disease. Rates of overweight and obesity for pediatric survivors have been found to be high five years after cancer treatment (from 40 to 50%). In line with recent calls emphasizing the importance of promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors in youth treated for cancer, we focus on key eating and exercise behaviors that can be targeted through parent education efforts to foster better overall health among youth with cancer transitioning off active treatment to survivorship. Our prior work supported by funding from the NCI found that our NOURISH-T intervention was both acceptable, feasible and showed preliminary efficacy. In NOURISH-T+ (NOURISH for Healthy Transitions) we now test the efficacy of this intervention in both English and Spanish across four diverse pediatric oncology clinics in a multi-site randomized control trial (RCT). Flandra Ismajli serves as project coordinator.

Latinos in Florida account for over 30% of all COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Most Latinos live in rural areas, work as migrant farmworkers, and have higher rates of underlying medical conditions, limited access to health care, and live in circumstances that interfere with implementation of community mitigation measures, all potentially leading to increased risk of COVID-19 exposure, morbidity, and mortality. Our community partner, the Hispanic Services Council (HSC) trains local promotoras de salud (community health workers), and in the past two years has reached 5,900 underserved Latino immigrant families in SW Florida. Recently, HSC promotoras reached over 300 Latino families to ask about the impact of COVID-19 on their health and wellbeing. We build on our ongoing partnership (R34At010661-01) with HSC and the promotoras to collect data using mixed methods to assess healthcare, social, economic, and contextual factors that influence the ability and willingness to get tested for COVID-19 and/or vaccinated. Our findings will guide products, including community education and population-specific marketing strategies, to improve testing and vaccination uptake. In partnering with and sharing information with other NOSI recipients we hope to increase testing for COVID-19 across diverse communities in the USA and to inform targeted implementation of COVID-19 vaccines.

• Mindfulness in AYA patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A Pilot Project.
• The PAWN-Q Study: An exploratory analysis of perceived needs regarding Physical activity, Appearance, Weight, Nutrition, and Quality of life in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. (Dr. Sylvia Crowder, PI)
• Health Literacy, Home Environmental Influence and Ethnicity and its Association to Adherence to Nutrition and Physical Exercise Guidelines in Adolescents and Young Adults Cancer Patients and Survivors: An Exploratory Study. (Sandra Soca Lozano, PI)
• An Exploratory Study of Perceived Stress and Reported Health Behaviors in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors  (Dr. Acadia Buro, PI)