The University of South Alabama’s Center for Healthy Communities has received a $7.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue its community-based outreach, research and mentoring programs designed to improve the health of minority and underserved populations in the area.

The five-year grant renews an original 2004 grant and establishes USA as a “Center of Excellence Partnerships, Outreach and Research Training in Health Disparities (EXPORT)” by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the NIH. 

The grant will continue to involve community groups, health care leaders, and USA faculty, working together to craft effective, culturally sensitive, community-based interventions for minority and underserved groups.

The NIH EXPORT will facilitate efforts to determine causes of and solutions to barriers to healthcare, according to Dr. Errol Crook, prinicipal investigator and chairman of the department of internal medicine at the USA College of Medicine.

 “We are extremely excited to have been awarded this grant,” Crook said.  “There are multiple reasons for disparate outcomes in health care among groups in the region and the solutions to these problems will often come from areas that are not traditionally considered to be related to healthcare.  It is our hope that the many partnerships that we have established will allow us to attack this huge problem from many perspectives.”

The NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities will use the findings from the USA research to aid the development of programs to address health disparities in other communities across the country.

As USA uncovers research findings and develops more effective health practices, they will then be “exported” to other communities, with the ultimate aim of eliminating health disparities across the country.

Dr. Harvey White, director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities, said the grant allows his group to focus on enhancing services in non-traditional settings, such as churches, as well as gauging people’s satisfaction with their providers. The study involves researchers and business leaders as partners in addressing the needs of these underserved groups. He said business involvement is key because health disparities represent an economic strain on the community.

“This grant will build upon the programs started with the initial funding,” White said. “There will be an initiative to develop community health advocates to promote healthy lifestyles in the communities of interest.  In addition there are several research projects that address the biology of breast cancer in African American women, unique health care delivery models, childhood asthma and obesity, the relationship between employment related benefits and health, and health disparities after disasters.  The grant also provides for pilot funding for newly developed research on health disparities and for continued efforts in health education.  Several programs that highlight health-related areas as a career opportunity will continue for area elementary and high school students.  These programs will also provide support and mentoring for college preparation.”

Dr. Martha Arrieta, director of research of the USA Center for Healthy Communities, said the two-way interaction between USA-based researchers and community-based organizations representing minority and underserved populations in the area is the foundation of the “Community-Based Participatory Research” philosophy inherent in the research and service programs to be developed through the grant. 

 “Health is not simply a medical issue,” Arrieta said. “It may be more community related. We may be surprised at what the community sees as a health issue.”

The amount of community support for this project was a large factor in its funding.  Support for this project came from several partners within USA and the Greater Mobile Community.  Some include: USA College of Medicine, USA Hospitals, USA Mitchell Cancer Institute, USA Office of Emerging Health Technologies, Mostellar Medical Center, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, Mobile County Health Department, Franklin Primary Health Center, several local churches, and others.