Department of Health Sciences

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Browsing Department of Health Sciences by Author "Alamilla, Rafael A."

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    Comparing Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity Among Underrepresented Minorities: Preliminary Outcomes from a Mixed-Methods Study
    (MDPI, 2025-02-06) Alamilla, Rafael A.; Kaushal, Navin; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Keith, NiCole R.; Health Sciences, School of Health and Human Sciences
    Physical activity (PA)'s benefits are well established, yet many U.S. adults fail to meet PA guidelines. This is especially true for minorities facing social inequities. This study explored PA's barriers and facilitators among urban Midwestern minorities using a mixed-methods approach framed on the socio-ecological model. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between January and June 2024 among community-dwelling minorities. Participants were grouped as completing low (LLPA) or high (HLPA) weekly leisure-time PA for comparison. Quantitative analysis included MANOVA, follow-up ANOVAs, and calculation of effect sizes. Qualitative data were assessed using inductive thematic analysis. Twenty-nine adults (44.83% Black, 41.37% Latino) participated in the study. The HLPA group (n = 18) reported higher leisure-time PA (p = 0.001, d = 2.21) and total PA (p = 0.02, d = 1.00) compared to the LLPA group (n = 11). LLPA participants faced more personal barriers to PA (p = 0.02, d = -0.92). Common barriers identified in the interviews included a lack of time and financial costs. Facilitators included social support and available PA facilities. Both groups achieved the USPA guidelines through different PA domains. Increasing social support and lowering PA-related costs could enhance participation. Addressing barriers and leveraging existing facilitators are crucial to increasing PA among minorities.
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    Future Directions for Transforming Kinesiology Implementation Science Into Society
    (Human Kinetics Journals, 2023) Alamilla, Rafael A.; Keith, NiCole R.; Hasson, Rebecca E.; Welk, Gregory J.; Riebe, Deborah; Wilcox, Sara; Pate, Russell R.
    Physical activity policy can play a crucial role in ensuring that individuals, communities, and societies can obtain the wide range of health benefits associated with regular physical activity participation. Policies such as Title IX, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and state physical education laws have all increased opportunities for millions of Americans to participate in physical activity. With that said, how policies are developed and implemented vary considerably. The purpose of this manuscript is to contrast an academic conceptual framework with a pragmatic approach for policy implementation. In an ideal world, polices would be developed from foundational knowledge, scaled up to community-level interventions, and implemented in a sequential fashion. However, policy implementation is a disorderly process that requires a practical methodology. The National Physical Activity Plan encompasses strategies and tactics across 10 key societal sectors—and highlights the disorderly process of policy implementation across the various sectors.
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    Reducing Physical Activity Disparities Among Vulnerable Minorities: Methods and Preliminary Outcomes
    (2023) Alamilla, Rafael A.; Georgiadis, Yanoula M.; Kaushal, Navin; Keith, NiCole R.
    INTRODUCTION: Vulnerable minorities experience high rates of chronic disease. Physical Activity (PA) is an effective preventive behavior to mitigate multiple diseases. Vulnerable minorities have low PA participation. Finding ways to engage vulnerable minorities in PA is imperative. PURPOSE: To describe preliminary data from a community-based wait-list pilot PA trial for vulnerable minorities. METHODS: Forty-five participants from a Midwest urban community were randomized to an experimental (EXP: N = 23; 15 F) or control (CON: N = 22; 15 F) group. Baseline measures are height = 168.5 ± 9.1cm (EXP), and 167.9 ± 7.0cm (CON); weight = 95.8 ± 26.4kg (EXP) and 85.0 ± 19.3kg (CON), age = 39.9 ± 9.7y (EXP) and 48.8 ± 13.2y (CON). EXP participants were counseled to engage in regular PA (>4d/wk for >30 mins). EXP participants received a fitness center membership, trainer, and on-site monthly education to help them develop exercise identity and habit formation. The CON group could engage in PA if desired but did not have the same research resources. Both groups completed monthly surveys assessing exercise identity, social support, and habit formation. Baseline data included one week of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and health-related fitness (measured by accelerometry and fitness tests, respectively). RESULTS: Paired-samples T-test were used to make baseline comparisons. Study participants were 73.2% White, 67.4% employed full-time, 56.1% obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 32.0% earned >300% of the federal poverty level. MVPA was 127.9 ± 69.8 min/wk (EXP) and 174.7 ± 103.1 min/wk (CON). Other non-significant outcomes included body fat % (EXP: 37.1 ± 10.9%; CON: 32.9 ± 12.0%), 8ft-up-and-go time (EXP: 5.01 ± 0.8s; CON: 5.05 ± 1.10s), and 30s chair stand (EXP: 15.3 ± 6.5; CON: 17.5 ± 5.2), 30s seated arm curl (EXP: R =18.9 ± 5.1, L = 19.2 ± 5.1; CON: R = 21.2 ± 5.7, L = 20.1 ± 5.4). Chair sit-and-reach scores for right (EXP: -0.1 ± 8.3cm; CON: 1.0 ± 12.2cm, p = 0.003 ) and left (EXP: -0.3 ± 8.2cm; CON: 0.1 ± 11.4cm, p = 0.01) legs were different. CONCLUSION: Data show baseline measures did not vary between groups and difficulty recruiting vulnerable minorities. Next steps include reporting final outcomes and developing refined recruitment methods.