Stroke prevention education in African Americans: Lessons learned from a community based participatory feasibility study

Purpose: To present information on the feasibility and acceptability of a Stroke Champion “train-the-trainer” program, including lessons learned, for dissemination of stroke prevention knowledge and resources among African Americans (AA) residing within the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN metropolitan area. Design: One arm pre-post-test design. Methods: Twelve AA “Stroke Champions” were recruited to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an online stroke prevention education curriculum and peer-to-peer education. Results: We successfully designed, developed, and implemented a stroke prevention education website for community use. All Stroke Champions completed initial training and evaluation, and reported the usefulness and usability of the website., However, they also reported that they needed more facilitation support from our research team to deliver education in the community. Conclusion: Engaging Stroke Champions is potentially beneficial in increasing stroke prevention knowledge. However, Stroke Champions need more support to effectively engage, educate, and disseminate knowledge among peers.