Healthy Liver/Higado Sano Study

The Healthy Liver/Hígado Sano Study will be pilot testing a behavioral lifestyle intervention for Hispanic/Latino adults with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). 

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a contributor to the upward trend of liver cancer in Hispanics/Latinos (heretofore Hispanic). Treatment for NAFLD to prevent negative health outcomes such as liver cancer involves patients changing what they eat and increasing their physical activity to lose weight. However, there are currently no behavioral lifestyle interventions specifically tailored to Hispanics with NAFLD. The goal of this project is to develop an intervention that Hispanic adults with NAFLD will like, find engaging, and help them change their lifestyle behaviors.

As there are existing evidence-based interventions (EBI), we will use an EBI and adapt it to fit the needs of Hispanic adults with NAFLD. This process begins by interviewing Hispanic adults with NAFLD to identify needed changes in how the intervention is formatted and delivered, as well as addressing Hispanic culture and concerns about NAFLD specifically. Upon finalizing changes to the intervention using IM Adapt, we will pilot test the behavioral lifestyle intervention with 30 Hispanic adults with NAFLD (15 intervention, 15 control). At the end of this project, we will have an adapted lifestyle intervention that will be available to test in a larger-scale randomized control trial to determine if it helps Hispanic adults with NAFLD lose weight and improve their liver function more than the usual care.

This project is funded by the Prevent Cancer Foundation and is done in collaboration with Legacy Community Health.