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Research and Creative Scholarship

2026-2027 Faculty Research Grants

Kettlen Borda and Jean Cadet (Population Health, Nutrition & Wellness). 

Church-Based Lifestyle Training & Community Wellness Pilot Program in Rural Michigan: A Feasibility and Implementation Study.

This study proposes a feasibility and implementation pilot evaluating a Church Based Lifestyle Training & Community Wellness model in rural Michigan. The project integrates mentorship for minority and educationally disadvantaged university students with supervised delivery of a structured lifestyle intervention in a small rural church setting. The pilot will enroll 2 graduate students and 2 undergraduate students as trainees and approximately 80-100 adult participants, enabling feasibility assessment while generating preliminary trends in health outcomes. The primary objective is to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a 12-week evidence-aligned lifestyle education program and to examine preliminary cardiometabolic changes. Students will receive faculty-guided training in lifestyle medicine foundations, behavior change principles, ethical community engagement, and standardized health assessment procedures, including blood pressure measurement, BMI calculation, and fasting glucose screening. After competency sign-off, students will facilitate a structured group-based intervention aligned with the CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) and CDC Lifestyle Change Program standards. Program elements will include goalsetting, progressive physical activity engagement, nutrition education, self-monitoring strategies, and accountability mechanisms. Adult participants will complete baseline and 12-week follow-up assessments measuring weight, BMI, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and selected behavioral indicators. Feasibility metrics will include recruitment rates, attendance, retention, and participant satisfaction. The project also aims to assess readiness for future alignment with Michigan Neighborhood Wellness Center designation and CDC Lifestyle Change Program provider benchmarks.