Details for Community Driven Research Day 2023

Community-Driven Research Day (CDRD) is a program that encourages collaboration between researchers and community-based organizations (CBOs)/community groups that have research questions they are interested in answering.

Find a review of Community Driven Research Day 2023 on the CHBR website, including tweets and photos from the sponsors.

 

 

Webinar: Community Health and Economic Prosperity

Save the Date: 9/9/2020 at 1:00-2:30 PM EST for Community Health & Economic Prosperity –


Join Vice Admiral Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, along with top leaders in the field of community health from Penn and beyond, as they discuss opportunities for the food industry to create a healthy and equitable food system. The webinar will be held September 9, 2020 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM, and is sponsored by the following.

Registration is limited, details here

 

Community Scholars In-Residence

A call for Community Scholars

Applications are now being accepted for the Community Scholars-in-Residence program which will be focused on cancer prevention and control research.

Through this program, scholars will develop relationships with a community research partner of their choosing, identify research opportunities, and co-develop research projects during a one to two-year tenure with a community partner organization.

Eligibility: Standing pre/post docs with an interest in conducting community-engaged health research Project Topics: Projects must focus on cancer prevention and control research, and must be co-developed with a community partner Program Duration: 12-24 months Funding: Each Scholar/Community Organization team will receive up to $5,000 for their project Program Start: September 2018. Application Deadline: June 1, 2018 EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE!

Program Structure:

Faculty Mentorship: Scholars will identify a mentor from qualified faculty in the area of cancer prevention and control research. Mentors will guide the development, implementation and evaluation of the project. Scholars are expected to meet with their mentor on a monthly basis. Mentors will receive $500 (for discretionary funds) for their support.

Community Partner Organization: The community partner organization should be identified by the scholar and can include any community organization that provides, plans for, coordinates, organizes, pays for, or regulates health/public health services or impacts health outcomes in the community.

Time Commitment: Scholars will devote an average of 4-6 hours per week to this program and it is expected that a majority of the time will be spent with the community partner.

Formal Training: Scholars will participate in a one-day kick-off workshop that will cover key community-engaged research skills and participate in regular meetings and trainings that will provide opportunities for sharing personal experiences and lessons learned. Representatives from the community partner organizations will be invited to participate in the meetings.

Funding: Scholars will develop a project and submit a proposal for funding (up to $5,000 per project). We suggest building in a minimum of $500 for your host organization.

Please contact Jill McDonald at jillmcd@upenn.edu  for more information and a program application.

 

Funding for this program comes from Community Engagement and Research Core in the Penn CTSA and the UPenn Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN).

A Tobacco-Free Penn Campus

The Student Health Service/Campus Health department at the University of Pennsylvania created videos to accompany their tobacco-free campus campaign. Watch their video, supported by the University of Pennsylvania Prevention Research Center (UPenn PRC), to learn more about their plans to improve health and create a more beautiful and sustainable campus.

 

Visit their website for more information on this ongoing project and look for the signage that alerts students and staff that Penn is Tobacco Free. Student Health Services has also provided a Tobacco Cessation Resources brochure to help students quit smoking.

Libraries Can Be a Health Resource for Vulnerable Populations: PRC Researchers Cannuscio, Grande, & Klusaritz

In a recent Fox News Health report, UPenn PRC Community Engagement Core Lead Carolyn Cannuscio ScD, shed light on the role modern-day libraries can play as multi-faceted community resource centers. “Some people would argue that libraries are old-fashioned, outmoded institutions that are irrelevant in the digital age,” said Cannuscio, a social epidemiologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. “Our work shows very clearly that libraries are vital, dynamic organizations that know their patrons well and respond creatively to community needs.”

 

Through the Healthy Library Initiative, Cannuscio and fellow PRC Researchers David Grande, MD, MPA, and Heather Klusaritz, PhD, MSW  identified ten programs aligned with the Free Library of Philadelphia which address social determinants of health within the Philadelphia community. After conducting interviews, the researchers found that libraries provided a safe space, for especially vulnerable populations which include “homeless people, people with mental illness and substance use, recent immigrants, and children and families suffering from trauma.”

 

In this new model, librarians assist with employment searches, applications for health insurance, and support other helpful programs such as classes on nutrition and youth leadership. The 54 libraries across the city of Philadelphia see 5.8 million in-person and 9.9 million online visits annually.  Cannuscio emphasizes the importance of having a space that provides shelter and services without any charge.

 

Read more about the study in Health Affairs.

 

 

Healthy Aging in Action: Recommendations from the U.S. Surgeon General

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy and the National Prevention Council release:                                                                            

Healthy Aging in Action: Advancing the National Prevention Strategy

Healthy Aging in Action (HAIA) identifies recommendations and actions to promote healthy aging and improve health and well-being in later life. HAIA highlights federal and nonfederal policies and programs that reflect the National Prevention Strategy’s approach of targeting prevention and wellness efforts to promote healthy aging to further advance the Strategy for an aging society.

The Healthy Aging in Action aims to:

  • Support prevention efforts to enable older adults to remain active, independent, and involved in their community;
  • Highlight innovative and evidence-based programs from National Prevention Council departments and agencies and local communities that address the challenges related to physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being that are often encountered in later life; and
  • Inform future multisector efforts to promote and facilitate healthy aging in communities.

The National Prevention Council, comprised of 20 Federal agencies and chaired by the Surgeon General, developed the HAIA with input from key stakeholders and the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health.

 

Tobacco Taxes Help Tackle Smoking Addiction: Cheryl Bettigole, MD

In a recent Philadelphia Inquirer Commentary,  Cheryl Bettigole, MD, UPenn PRC Community Advisory Board member and Director of the Division of Chronic Disease Prevention at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, advocates broadening the tobacco tax increase adopted by the Pennsylvania legislature last summer.

The tax increase was applied only to cigarettes, e-cigarettes, roll-your-own and smokeless tobacco. Bettigole advocates including cigars and cigarillos.

“More than 10 percent of high school boys now smoke cigars and the failure to tax these products is likely to make them disproportionately cheap and hence more attractive to teens. Like e-cigarettes, cigarillos come in a multitude of flavors that seem designed to draw kids in, and are often displayed in Philadelphia’s neighborhood stores next to displays of candy and gum.”

Flavored tobacco products are a particular draw to young people.  According to Bettigole, seven out of ten teens who start smoking begin with a flavored tobacco product. Bettigole notes, “More than 90 percent of smokers start as teens and that addiction, once begun, can be impossible to break.”

 

Racial Disparities in Access to Primary Care: PRC Researchers David Grande and Daniel Polsky

In the August issue of Health Affairs, UPenn PRC Researchers David Grande, MD, MPA, and Daniel Polsky, Ph.D, investigate racial disparities in spatial accessibility of primary care among different neighborhoods in the city of Philadelphia.  Noting that “areas of the city with high percentages of African Americans or Hispanics were likely to also be areas with poor primary care spatial accessibility” and that ” people who live in those areas might be forced to travel farther or wait longer, which creates additional barriers to primary care,” Grande and Polsky show similarities between their research and research on food deserts – neighborhoods which have limited access to healthy food.  This study furthers research on neighborhood health risk and how the built environment impacts the health status of different urban populations.

 

 

 

How Neighborhood Impacts Health and Well-Being for Low-Resource, Single-Parent Families: PRC Researcher Doug Wiebe

In the April 2016 issue of Health and Social Care in the community,  UPenn PRC Training and Evaluation Core Lead Doug Wiebe, Ph.D, and colleagues investigate factors in the physical and psycho-social well-being of low-resource, housing-unstable, single parent families living in violent neighborhoods in Philadelphia

The researchers looked at families who were participants in a housing-plus program in Philadelphia and the relationship between the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which the families lived and their perceptions of well-being and safety. Noting that health dynamics in this population are “not well-described,” the researchers sought to contribute a better understanding of how the stresses of where one lives impacts how well one can live.

Among the key findings:

  • Parents of low-income, single-parent families who participate in a housing support program in an urban setting with high community violence met or exceeded the US national average for self-reported physical health but fell below the national average across all mental health domains, including symptoms for moderate to severe depression.
  • These parents described high levels of stress resulting from competing priorities, financial instability, and concern for their children’s well-being and safety.
  • External markers of violence (crime rates) in their proximate neighborhood affected how parents and children conducted their daily activities and moved within their neighborhoods.

 

Rural Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Kentucky Reaches Poorest Regions of the State

Our fellow Prevention Research Center at the University of Kentucky, the Rural Cancer Prevention Center, was featured in an important story on the challenges of tackling cancer in rural Kentucky. The feature airs on PBS’s NewsHour on Friday, March 26, 2016. The Rural Cancer Prevention Center is credited with advancing cancer screening and education in some of the poorest regions of the state.

See the story here:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-cancer-is-so-hard-to-fight-in-rural-kentucky

The Strained 9-1-1 System and Threats to Public Health

In the Journal of Community Health,  UPenn PRC Core Lead Carolyn Cannuscio, ScD, and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University examine how the public’s use of the 9-1-1 system impacts the first-responders who deliver emergency services.

In 2013, the United States (U.S.) fire service responded to more than 31 million 9-1-1 emergency response calls. The majority of those calls (68 %) were for medical assistance, while only 4 % of calls were fire-related, highlighting that the 9-1-1 system serves as a critical public health safety net.

In focus groups and interviews with 123 firefighters from 12 fire departments across the United States, the researchers developed consensus regarding key themes. Firefighters concurred that the 9-1-1 system is strained and increasingly called upon to deliver Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the community. Much like the hospital emergency department, EMS frequently assists low-income and elderly populations who have few alternative sources of support. Firefighters highlighted the high volume of low-acuity calls that occupy much of their workload, divert resources from true emergencies, and lead to unwarranted occupational hazards like speeding to respond to non-serious calls.

As a result, firefighters reported high occupational stress, low morale, and desensitization to community needs. Firefighters’ called for improvements to the 9-1-1 system, the backbone of emergency response in the U.S., including better systems of triage, more targeted use of EMS resources, continuing education to align with job demands, and a strengthened social safety net to address the persistent needs of poor and elderly populations.

 

Read more here:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10900-015-0142-x