# COACH:  Competency Based Approaches for Community Health

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $634,252

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Despite the recognition of health disparities in obesity, behavioral interventions among low-income and
minority populations have consistently met with limited success. This is partially explained by social
determinants of health. Constantly changing barriers at the household and community levels impede consistent
engagement in healthy behaviors. The current proposal tests a novel, culturally-tailored and multi-level
intervention designed to teach families to overcome dynamic barriers as the logical next step to address
obesity among low-income Latino families. It is based on the premise that by implementing a personalized
multi-level intervention that simultaneously addresses healthy weight for parents and children, we will improve
body mass index (BMI) among Latino parent-child pairs.
COACH (COmpetency-Based Approaches to Community Health) implements a personally tailored approach,
equipping families to engage in health behaviors despite dynamic barriers. COACH is a multi-level intervention
targeting 1) the individual child through developmentally appropriate health behavior curriculum, 2) the family
by addressing parent weight loss directly and engaging parents as agents of change for their children, and 3)
the community by building capacity of Parks and Rec centers to offer parent-child programming. Using novel
multi-component assessments throughout the study, the intervention identifies individual, family, and
community barriers to healthy behaviors and delivers structured yet personalized intervention content in 7
domains: fruits/vegetables, snacks, sugary drinks, physical activity, sleep, media use, and parenting.
Building on a successful pilot, this proposal will implement a randomized controlled trial to test the
effectiveness of COACH compared to an attention-matched school-readiness control group. We will enroll 300
parent-child pairs from Latino communities in Nashville, TN. Eligible children will be 3-5 years old and have a
BMI >50th percentile. Through our 10-year partnership with the Nashville Parks and Rec department, we
conduct COACH in neighborhood community centers, leveraging community infrastructure to facilitate health
behavior change. The primary outcome will be child BMI change at 2-year follow-up, using a growth curve
analysis. Secondary outcomes will include parent BMI, and parent/child diet and physical activity. The goals of
COACH are to 1) implement a novel personalized behavioral intervention, 2) test a two-generation solution to
obesity, 3) address health disparities by reducing obesity among Latino families, and 4) develop a scalable and
widely accessible approach to behavioral obesity interventions by delivering them in Parks and Rec centers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10875624
- **Project number:** 5R01HD100458-05
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** William Heerman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $634,252
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-15 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10875624

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10875624, COACH:  Competency Based Approaches for Community Health (5R01HD100458-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10875624. Licensed CC0.

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