Clinical Research Directory

Lifestyle Advice in CVD

Individuals living in the UK who are from ethnic minority communities have a higher risk of heart disease and strokes than white individuals. This risk arises from the social determinants of health. These include lifestyle factors such as diet, physical activity and smoking. Improving these lifestyle factors in individuals is an essential part of reducing the chances of heart attacks and stroke. Patients may have diets and lifestyles arising from their cultural and religious backgrounds but receive advice which is not aligned to their own customs and experiences. Receiving advice which is not relevant to their own types of diet and lifestyle customs may create difficulties for patients in managing their heart and circulation health. Moreover, the dissonance between advice given and patient-specific relevance may lead to poorer adherence to the recommendations made to manage their condition. This can lead to poorer health outcomes for these patients. In addition, they may be advised to adopt diets and behaviours which are not appropriate to their cultures and may be also difficult to put into practice. This is important because lifestyle advice aligned to a patient's existing diet, behaviours and cultural beliefs leads to improved control of these health conditions. Learning to provide dietary and lifestyle advice relevant to individual patients needs is an important skill for the clinicians caring for them.

Community-Based Nutritional Intervention Based on the Planetary Health Diet and Its Impact on Gut Microbiota in Rural Women in Mexico

This study aims to evaluate the impact of a community-based nutritional intervention based on the Planetary Health Diet on dietary patterns, gut microbiota composition, and health indicators in adult women living in rural communities in Querétaro, Mexico. Participants will receive nutritional education, individualized counseling, and practical workshops focused on improving dietary habits and promoting sustainable food choices. The intervention is designed using behavioral and community-based approaches to facilitate long-term adherence to healthy and environmentally sustainable diets. Outcomes will be assessed before and after the intervention, including changes in diet quality, anthropometric measures, gut microbiota composition, and environmental impact indicators such as carbon footprint, water use, and land use.

A Comparative Intervention Study on Strategies for Fruit Distribution and Awareness Campaigns in Schools

This implementation study evaluates two strategies to increase fruit consumption among Swedish students. (1) installing fruit stands in schools and (2) combining fruit stands with a health-awareness campaign. The intervention is implemented in a set of participating schools, each following one of the predefined strategies. Students are asked to use a research app to photograph their meals and snacks during three data-collection periods before, during, and after the intervention. The study collects information on fruit intake, eating patterns, and the number of fruits taken from the stands to assess effectiveness and reduce food waste. The aim is to identify which strategy better supports healthy eating habits in school environments.

FRESH-EATS Project

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to determine the feasibility of the FRESH-EATS project in children ages 8-12 and their parents/caregivers residing in low-income, predominantly minority neighborhoods. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is the FRESH-EATS intervention feasible to implement and well-received by parent-child dyads? Does the FRESH-EATS multilevel multicomponent intervention improve dietary behaviors of children and their parents/caregivers compared to the comparison group? We hypothesize that this innovative community-derived, multilevel-multicomponent intervention is feasible to implement and has the potential to improve dietary behaviors of participants (children ages 8-12 and their parents/caregivers). Researchers will compare the FRESH-EATS intervention group to the Lagged Intervention Control Group (LICG) to see if the FRESH-EATS intervention leads to better dietary behaviors and health outcomes. Participants in the FRESH-EATS intervention group will: * Attend educational sessions on healthy eating and cooking. * Participate in family workshops that address access to healthy food. * Receive food deliveries and information about local food resources. * Engage in community garden activities.