The Dedalo Project, a Community-based Prevention Program for the Promotion of Healthy Behaviors in Adult Population: Model Description and Target Population Assessment

The Dedalo Project, a Community-based Prevention Program for the Promotion of Healthy Behaviors in Adult Population: Model Description and Target Population Assessment

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading global cause of death. The Italian National Prevention Plan (INPP) highlights the importance of health promotion and NCD prevention while avoiding health inequalities. In line with the INPP guidelines, we initiated a multicomponent community-based inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of primary prevention Vol. 43; no. 5; pp. 639 - 658
Main Authors: Bortoluzzi, Sara, Coppo, Alessandro, Alessi, Daniela, Parovina, Stefano, Napoletano, Sara, Ammazzagatti, Irene, Airoldi, Chiara, Zibetti, Angelica, Aleni, Chiara, Caristia, Silvia, Faggiano, Fabrizio, Barale, Antonella, Berti, Maria Luisa, Taliano, Claudia, Mento, Marilena
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer Nature B.V 01-10-2022
Subjects:
Adults
Aging
Community Relations
Death
Diet
Disease prevention
Gender differences
Health behavior
Health disparities
Health promotion
Longitudinal Studies
Mens health
Municipalities
Prevention programs
Smoking
Social Characteristics
Womens health
Italy
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Summary:Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading global cause of death. The Italian National Prevention Plan (INPP) highlights the importance of health promotion and NCD prevention while avoiding health inequalities. In line with the INPP guidelines, we initiated a multicomponent community-based intervention program, named the Dedalo project, to promote healthy and active aging among population living around the Vercelli’s municipality, Italy. A cross-sectional analysis, that used the baseline data of a longitudinal study of the project, evaluated the program’s ability to enroll participants participants who represent the socioeconomic conditions present in the municipality. To this end, we compared the main social characteristics and behaviors of 40–74-year-old subjects (n = 155), who had attended at least one Dedalo activity, to those of same age individuals (n = 124) randomly extracted from the general population. We found that most participants were women (81.3%) and had a higher SES compared to the general population. Furthermore, they were healthier—OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.31–0.87 for self-reported diseases—and displayed healthier behaviors—OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.08–0.46 for smokers; 0.32 95%, CI 0.16–0.64 for fruit/vegetable consumers; and 0.36 95% CI 0.20–0.64 for sweet beverages consumers. Overall, our initial evaluation indicates that the Dedalo project has so far struggled to enroll individuals with low SES, men with any SES, and subjects displaying unhealthy behaviors, thereby failing to meet the INPP goal of preventing NCDs while avoiding health disparities. Thus, efforts should be made to ensure that this community-based intervention program can effectively reach all the target population, in particular those individuals most exposed to behavioral risk factors.
ISSN:0278-095X
1573-6547
DOI:10.1007/s10935-022-00693-0