Perceived barriers to community-based health promotion program participation.

OBJECTIVES: To examine barriers and self-efficacy relative to attendance at a cardiovascular risk reduction program. METHODS: Subjects (N=161) represented 3 levels of program participation: full, minimum, and none. Survey scales for barriers to attendance and health behavior change, food security, and self-efficacy for nutrition and physical activity were administered. RESULTS: Minimum and no-exposure participants perceived significantly more barriers to attendance than did the full-exposure participants (P<0.05); barriers to health behavior change were not significantly different. Self-efficacy for nutrition and physical activity were not significantly different among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Health promotion programs need to consider anytime, any place modes of program delivery to address "program day and time" and "no time to attend" barriers perceived by target audiences.

Duke Scholars

Author Jane Frances Pendergast Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics