Development of the Live Well Curriculum for Recent Immigrants: A Community-Based Participatory Approach

Background: There are few weight gain prevention interventions aimed at new immigrants. Live Well, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study, was designed to address this gap.

Objective: The goal of this paper is to describe the development of the Live Well nutrition and physical activity curriculum.

Methods: The curriculum draws on behavioral theory and popular education and was co-created, implemented, and will be evaluated by community partners and academic researchers.

Results: The time it took to develop the curriculum exceeded initial estimates. However, the extra time taken was spent engaging in needed dialogue to create a better product, fully co-created by academic and community partners. Additionally, working with an outside expert created the opportunity for all partners to train together, build capacity, and increase cohesion. Our approach developed relationships and trust, and resulted in a unique curriculum.

Conclusions: The commitment to partnership resulted in a curriculum to empower immigrant women to improve health decisions and behaviors. This will inform future research and programming targeting other at-risk and new immigrant communities.