16 Feb What is Black Impact 100?

The Black Impact 100 is a community-based intervention research study in partnership with The Ohio State University in which we engage 100 African American males over a 24-week period to improve their lifestyle by following a specific fitness and nutrition regimen based on the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 guidelines.

Founded by John H. Gregory in 2004, agencies across the community have chipped in to help. The City of Columbus Recreation and Parks Department donated 100 free passes, Columbus Public Health and Franklin County Public Health offered to assist with smoking cessation and stress management, and the American Heart Association in partnership with Cardinal Health donated blood pressure cuffs. Others helped meet funding and additional needs.

The goal is for the men to lose 7% of their body weight and achieve 150 minutes of physical activity a week, followed by a secondary goal of getting their blood pressure under control. But the project goes far beyond that, seeking to improve the care Black men receive by addressing social determinants of health that may be a barrier to their journey to wellness; offering implicit bias training to their primary care providers; and increasing the enrollment of Black men in clinical trials.