Newswise — The W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced today that the University of South Florida College of Public Health has been named one of 12 schools and graduate programs of public health joining the Foundation-funded Engaged Institutions Initiative. Member institutions, selected from 26 applicants, will work on eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities in their communities " one of the most pressing social justice issues facing America.
Not only are most racial and ethnic groups less healthy, but they also tend to have shorter life expectancies, higher rates of infant mortality and chronic diseases, worse outcomes once diagnosed with illnesses, and less access to health care than their white counterparts. Health disparities persist even when socio-economic status and insurance coverage are taken into account, due to a complex combination of factors.
"This initiative is core to our commitment to be engaged in eliminating health disparities in our region and help the Kellogg Foundation build a model for the nation," said Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the USF College of Public Health.
The Foundation-sponsored Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) will intensively collaborate for one year with teams from each of the 12 institutions to develop and implement strategies focused on eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities. The USF team includes leaders from the College of Public Health; the Chiles Center; the Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI); the School of Aging Studies (SAS); as well as community members from the Hillsborough County Health Department; the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program; and the Healthy Start Coalition.
"Our inclusion is acknowledgment that we are already doing good things in the area and being part of the initiative will help us do it better," said Hana Osman, PhD, assistant professor of public health and project leader. "This consultation will place us in a great position to apply for health disparities extramural research funding in the near future, as a result of our newly acquired skills and partnerships."
Eliminating health disparities will require solutions that bring communities and institutions together as partners and build upon the assets, strengths, and capacities of each. Schools and graduate programs of public health " with their roles in educating public health professionals, conducting public health research and applying knowledge to solve public health problems " have a unique and important role to play, said Karen Liller, PhD, associate dean for academic affairs at USF College of Public Health. "We are proud to be part of this initiative and look forward to involving faculty, staff, students, and our surrounding communities in education and research initiatives to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities."
The Kellogg Foundation defines engaged institutions as "institutions that invest in lasting relationships with communities"¦these relationships influence, shape, and promote the success of both the institution and the community."
Teams include academic administrators, faculty, staff, students and community partners. Consultation will be provided by members of the CCPH Consultancy Network, the organization's training and technical assistance arm. The initiative will also sponsor teleconferences, identify promising practices and produce resource materials.
Initiative announcements and updates will be posted on the CCPH website at http://www.ccph.info.
Participating Schools and Graduate Programs of Public Health:
-- Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ-- Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR-- Master of Public Health Program in Community Health Education, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA-- University of South Florida College of Public Health, Tampa, FL-- Master of Public Health Program, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI-- Morgan State University School of Public Health and Policy, Baltimore, MD-- Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA-- Master of Public Health Program, University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Nebraska at Omaha, NE-- University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC-- Oregon Master of Public Health Program, a consortium among Portland State University in Portland, Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR-- Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC-- Master of Public Health Program and Center on Health Disparities, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
About USF HealthUSF Health is the University of South Florida's enterprise of researchers, teachers and clinicians dedicated to improving the full continuum of health. Its core is the colleges of Public Health, Nursing and Medicine, including a School of Physical Therapy, as well as the healthcare delivered by its 450 physicians and more than 100 nurse practitioners. In partnership with its affiliated hospitals, USF Health's research funding last year was $134 million -- more than half of which came from federal sources. Last year, USF health clinicians cared for more than 31,000 patients and oversaw 396,000 outpatient visits. Learn more about USF Health at http://www.usfhealth.usf.edu
About Community-Campus Partnerships for HealthCommunity-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes health (broadly defined) through partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions. Founded in 1996, CCPH is a growing network of over 1,000 communities and campuses that are collaborating to promote health through service-learning, community-based participatory research, broad-based coalitions and other community-academic partnership strategies. CCPH advances its mission by disseminating information, providing training and technical assistance, conducting research and evaluations, facilitating policy and systems change, and building coalitions. Learn more about CCPH at http://www.ccph.info.
About the W.K. Kellogg FoundationThe W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development. Learn more about the Foundation at http://www.wkkf.org
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