Prime Time Sister Circles(®)II: Evaluating a Culturally Relevant Intervention to Decrease Psychological and Physical...

This article presents the results of two evaluation studies of the Prime Time Sister Circles(®) (PTSC). The PTSC is a gender, cultural, and age specific, curriculum-based, low-cost, short-term, replicable support group approach aimed at reducing key modifiable health risk factors for chronic illnesses in midlife African American women.

Study 1 includes an evaluation of 31 PTSCs (N=656 women) documenting changes in psychological and attitudinal outcomes (health satisfaction, health locus of control), behavioral outcomes (healthy eating patterns, physical activity, stress management), and clinical outcomes (weight, BMI, blood pressure, non-fasting blood sugar). Study 2 includes evaluation of a subset of the PTSC sites (N=211 women) with comparison (N=55 women) data from those same locations.

Study 1 showed significant changes (p<.0001) in the PTSC women's reports of (lower) stress, (higher) health locus of control, (increased) health satisfaction, (increased) physical activity, and (healthier) eating patterns. The PTSC women demonstrated a significant weight reduction at posttest (p <.0001) and had slightly better clinical outcomes in BMI, hypertension, and non-fasting blood sugar. Results document the sustainability of selected changes over a six-month period. Findings from the Study 2 strengthen the effectiveness claims of the PTSC intervention with significant changes for the PTSC women on selected outcomes and little changes for the comparison women.

Results reaffirm findings regarding the effectiveness of the PTSC, as originally reported in Gaston, Porter, and Thomas (2007) and extends the credibility of findings by examining participants' clinical outcomes in addition to self-reports.