FY25-Project BF (AACTIVE-UM): MIP-Project AACTIVE: African Americans Coming Together to Increase Vital Exercise

The purpose of the present proposal is to adapt and preliminarily validate a combination CBT and exercise program for men living with chronic illness (diabetes) and comorbid depression. We propose to tailor an existing CBT and exercise program by modifying program content to focus on messaging appropriate for men. Our proposal includes a developmental phase (adaptation of the program with expert feedback) and a validation phase pilot trial to be conducted with N=120 Black male adult residents of Metro Detroit and Wayne County. This project will be conducted in collaboration with the MIU Men’s Health Foundation, which hosts the Michigan Men’s Health Fair held each year at Ford Field, St Patrick’s Senior Center, a community-based organization in Detroit and a federally qualified health center based in Wayne and/or Washtenaw counties. The Michigan Men’s Health Fair services over 800 low-income men who are primarily low-income residents of Metro Detroit that rely on the health fair for free medical care once a year. Many of the men who attend the fair are African American men who report not having a consistent health care provider and/or attending regular medical appointments. It is our hope to leverage the Men’s Health Fair, a community-based agency and an FQHC to encourage participation in mental health care and exercise outside of the health event. Our study will recruit from the Michigan Men’s Health Foundation Men’s Health Fair former and current list of attendees and other community-based organizations. We estimate over 80% of attendees receive some form of Medicare and Medicaid services. We will primarily utilize community-partners of the Michigan Men’s Health Foundation, St. Patrick’s senior center and at least one health care facility TBD. During FY25, we will conduct a post-program follow-up assessment at 6-months and conduct a qualitative process evaluation of the program.