The goal of Healthy STRIDES/Healthy MOVE! is to disseminate evidence-based research to effect population-based changes in fruit and vegetable consumption among US veterans identified by health providers in Veterans Health Administration facilities as being at increased health risk due to overweight or obesity (BMI of 25 or more). The parent grant project, NC STRIDES, found in a randomized trial that a combined intervention of mailed tailored print communications (TPCs) and telephone-based tailored motivational interviewing (TMI) calls over a one year period led to a significant increase in fruit and vegetable consumption of 1.0 servings per day in an older population-based intervention group compared to no change in the control group. In collaboration with the VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, the proposed project will disseminate and test the effectiveness of TMI and TPCs as an enhancement of the VA's new MOVE! (Managing Overweight/Obesity for Veterans Everywhere) program which addresses weight control for veterans attending its medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics. MOVE! does not currently have a strong fruit and vegetable intervention component and uses only modestly-tailored print materials and MI-based telephone counseling; however there is strong interest in adopting these approaches. The RE-AIM framework will be used as a guide for evaluation. To assess effectiveness we will use a quasi-experimental design that compares changes in fruit and vegetable consumption and psychosocial mediators in two comparable VA sites, one of which will implement the standard MOVE! program and the other will implement Healthy STRIDES/Healthy MOVE!. A careful process evaluation will be conducted in order to understand factors relevant to adoption, implementation and maintenance of evidence-based strategies to improve the health and quality of life of veterans.
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