Vivian Research Group

 

The Vivian research team is currently engaged in a community-based diabetes prevention program called Healthy Outcomes through Peer Educators (HOPE).  HOPE is an intervention that allows grandmothers who reside in the same community an opportunity to provide each other with knowledge; experience; emotional, social, and practical help. HOPE will evaluate the impact of peer support on African American grandmother’s health behaviors and the spillover effect of these behaviors on their grandchildren. HOPE will pair grandmothers with prediabetes to peer educators who are also grandmothers and reside in the same community. Peers understand what is meaningful to their community, communicate in the language of the people, and can recognize and incorporate cultural buffers (e.g., cultural identity and spiritual coping) to help community members cope with stress and promote health outcomes.