• Diet History Questionnaire; 7 - Day Physical Activity Recall [ Time Frame: Baseline, 18 months, and 36 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

• Blood pressure; Total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides; Glucose level; Hemoglobin A1C (Diabetics only) [ Time Frame: Baseline, 18-months, and 36 months ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

Behavioral: Lay Health Promoter (LHP) with maintenance
Lay Health Promoters (LHPs) and their congregations will join an existing social and organizational support network, comprised of LHPs and congregations who are part of an active community health improvement collaborative.

The GoodNEWS Trial is an 18-month effectiveness trial with an 18-month extended maintenance study, among 20 African-American and low-income congregations participating in the GoodNEWS faith-based lay health promotion program. After training, congregations will be randomized to either GoodNEWS with a health maintenance intervention (GoodNEWS-I) or GoodNEWS program alone (GoodNEWS-PA). The maintenance intervention combines elements of the medical care model and features of community-based support. Primary data collection will occur at baseline, 18, and 36 months with the two primary outcomes being levels of physical activity as measured by 7- Day Physical Activity Recall (PAR) and dietary change as measured by the Diet History Questionnaire (DHQ). The primary hypothesis is that the maintenance group will significantly increase physical activity and healthy eating behavior compared to the program only group. We also hypothesize that lipoprotein and glucose levels, and blood pressure will be significantly improved over baseline in the GoodNEWS-I group and that these changes will be significantly greater than in the GoodNEWS-PA group. At the end of the trial, both groups will continue in an 18-month extended maintenance study.