Uplifting Equitable Park Use and Promoting Physical Activity Among African American Families in Minnesota: A Culturally-Responsive, Community-Engaged Approach

Social injustices, such as the absence of racial representation and culturally tailored programs in parks, may further discourage African American families from accessing and using these spaces. 10 Studies are needed to investigate how exposure to more equitable greenspace environments may support physical activity (PA) among African American families. Justice-focused, park-based PA interventions hold high promise for reducing health disparities and future cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and related chronic conditions (RCC) risk, thus carrying significant implications for the fields of public health, family medicine, and urban planning. This pilot study is a two-arm, parallel randomized controlled trial that will be conducted in partnership with community stakeholders from the Three River Park District (TRPD); TRPD parks are located in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. This trial aims to evaluate the changes in PA, psychological health, sleep, and blood pressure among a cohort of African American parent-child dyads who will be randomized to two intervention conditions. The intervention conditions are: (1) a culturally tailored, nature-based program offered at the TRPD (hereafter, "NatureUplift"), and (2) NatureUplift plus a supplementary walking/hiking educational component (hereafter, "NatureUplift+Active"). Participant dyads will be randomized to NatureUplift or NatureUplift+Active.