The Living Well Multicultural-Lifestyle Modification Program: 2018 Final Report

The Living Well Multicultural Lifestyle Modification Program (LWM‐LMP) is provided by the Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ) to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities living in Queensland with the objectives to improve client knowledge and confidence relating to chronic diseases; and achieve and maintain heathy eating and physical activity behaviours. The LWM‐LMP has been implemented since 2015 and this evaluation document reports on data collected between July 2017 and June 2018. The program reached a wide variety of ethnic communities in numerous locations in Queensland. A large network of collaboration and partnerships was established during the program implementation. The main sources of referral were community member/websites,multicultural health workers, and TAFE. A total of 24 programs were delivered to 306 participants from five ethnic groups: Afghan, Arabic‐speaking, Burmese/Asian including Bhutanese, Pacific Islander, and Sudanese. Participation rates were mostly above 90% for eight session program and between 84% and 92% for the follow up sessions at Week 10, week 14, Week 17, and Week 20. Most participants received the text messages and coaching phone calls after the program finished. The participation rate was lower among the Afghan group compared to others. After completing the eight face‐to‐face program sessions, participant knowledge scores increased significantly from 1.7 points at baseline to 5.2 points at week 8. The increase was across all ethnic groups. In addition, there was improvement in participants’ confidence of reducing their risk of getting a chronic disease with average scores increasing from 5.1 at baseline to 7.4 at week 8. Similarly, the increase for confidence in managing a chronic condition increased from 5.2 at baseline to 7.5 at week 8. The improvement was also across all ethnic groups. Physical activity behaviour improved for all ethnic groups. The proportion of participants who met the physical activity recommendation of doing at least 150 minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity/week increased from 58.5% at baseline to 77.8% at week 8. Improvement in eating behaviours was also significant. Proportion of participants having at least 2 servings of fruit per day increased from 52% to 75.4% at week 8. The increase for having at least 5 servings of vegetable per day was from 6.9% to 16.2%. Percentage of participants who increased their vegetable consumption by at least one serving was 63.2% at week 8 and 85% at week 20 compared to baseline. In addition, unhealthy eating behaviours improved. Unhealthy food items consumed at least once a week decreased from 42% to 27% for fast food/takeaway, 46% to 29% for hot chips/fries, 38% to 15% for salty snacks, 46% to 22% for sweet snacks, 36% to 14% for sweetened beverages, and 42% to 19% for processed meat. Proportion of daily smoking and alcohol consumption was 8.5% and 19.7%, respectively. The program also appeared to motivate participants to quit or try to quit smoking and reduce alcohol consumption. Cardio‐metabolic health indicators including weight, BMI, waist circumference, WHtR, and blood pressure were improved as well. At week 8, the decrease on average was 1kg for weight, 0.37 points for BMI, 0.8cm for waist,