Tailoring the Stroke Counseling for Risk Reduction Intervention for Young African American Men

Project Vision

Stroke is a life-altering event, and it is increasingly affecting people at younger ages, particularly African American men. The Stroke Counseling for Risk Reduction Intervention is a nurse-led, age, and culturally relevant intervention that will be tailored to attract, engage, and empower African American men 20-35 years old towards stroke risk reduction, by giving them the knowledge, confidence, and resources needed to overcome barriers and live healthy lifestyles free of stroke. ​

Background

In 2020, Dr. Aycock received funding from the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship Program for Nurse Leaders and Innovators to tailor SCORRE to the needs and preferences of African American men aged 20-35 years old. Focus groups will be used to better understand men’s thoughts about stroke and the SCORRE intervention. Findings from this and the previous study will be used to tailor SCORRE for men and create SCORRE-M. SCORRE-M will then be tested in a sample of young African American men to determine intervention feasibility. 

 Past Work 

2012

Dr. Aycock found a high burden of stroke risk, inadequate knowledge of stroke risk factors, inaccurate perceptions of stroke risk, and insufficient exercise to reduce stroke risk in young to middle-aged African Americans.

2014

Funding from GSU’s Research Initiation Grant  to develop and test the feasibility of the SCORRE intervention. SCORRE was found to be feasible and acceptable and with some refinements, have the potential to reduce stroke risk in young African Americans.

2015

Funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research to refine and further test the SCORRE intervention. With this larger study, improvements in dietary behaviors were observed along with better stroke knowledge, risk perceptions,  and perceived competence to live healthy. However, gender differences in the outcomes were observed. Fewer men participated, they had more concerning risk factors, but were less likely to be at a stage of readiness for behavior change, and did not benefit as much from the intervention as women.