Tailor Made: Solutions for Your Health

Results from Tailor Made:

Contact the CRMH today for more information:

CRMH phone number: 615-936-3610 or by email at tailormade@vanderbilt.edu

The Center for Research on Men’s Health at Vanderbilt University is conducting a weight-loss program in the Nashville area. TailorMade: Solutions for your health is specifically tailored to overweight and obese African American Men ages 35-64. TailorMade is a weight-loss program that consists of weekly small group calls led by project staff, two health assessments over the course of 3 months and a follow-up survey 3 months after program completion. We ask that participants wear a fitness tracking device (Fitbit) for the duration of the program and possibly receive health-related text messages. The weekly calls will take place virtually and last no longer than 45 minutes. Participants can receive up to $70 in incentives for participating and completing all the assessments throughout the project. (Completed assessment visits at baseline and final (3-months).) All participants must consent to be contacted for program components. The information shared with us during the program will be kept confidential.

Enrollment has closed for this round.

Principal Investigator: Derek M. Griffith, PhD

Co-Investigators: Marino A. Bruce, PhD, MSRC (Vanderbilt University); Erin N. Kobetz, PhD, MPH (University of Miami); Natasha Schaefer Solle, PhD (University of Miami); Leah R. Alexander, PhD (Meharry Medical College); Jacquelyn Pennings, PhD (Vanderbilt University Medical Center); Gregory D. Ayers, MS (Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Funding Source: National Institutes of Health

Funding Period: 6/1/2016-3/31/2020

Mechanism: U54

Location: Nashville, TN and Miami, FL

Project Summary

Our intervention content and focus represents a novel strategy to promote health equity by using technology-based health care innovations to improve healthy eating and active living and encourage tobacco cessation by addressing a root cause of unhealthy behavior in men: notions of manhood. We focus on gender and manhood because they are underexplored factors that shape men’s health behaviors. Specifically, we will (1) use qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and refine gendered survey items that will be used in individually-tailored health communications that focus on manhood; (2) use a cross-sectional survey to test the associations between the survey items and eating practices, physical activity and key mediators (e.g., motivation, self-efficacy and social support); and (3) conduct individual interviews to test the accuracy of the health communications profiles that will be used to individually-tailor intervention materials. The focus of this research is consistent with NIH priority areas of health care innovations, health care equity, healthy eating, and active living. Furthermore, this study can be generalized to other racial and ethnic groups of men.

Center for Research on Men's Health