The overall objective of the Southern Center for Communication, Health, and Poverty is to reduce healthdisparities by discovering how the poor and near poor living in the South who are disproportionately AfricanAmerican respond to health risks and what interventions will increase their health protection behaviors.Eliminating health disparities is one of the most pressing health issues facing the U.S. Socioeconomic statusis a key underlying factor. In almost every risk factor or disease those from lower social classes sufferdisproportionately. When communication and marketing efforts to improve health are undertaken they oftenhave the unfortunate effect of increasing these disparities rather than reducing them. This Center willconduct three major research studies with low income populations in the South about the following healthrisks-smoking, violence, and genetic predispositions. These studies also explore different facets ofcommunication including message processing, message contents, and audience participation indesigningand constructing messages. In addition, a pilot study will focus on multiple risks and the consistent orinconsistent ways low income individuals respond to them, including the sources they use and trust and thedepth with which they process messages about them. The Center will support these studies and build afoundation for continued research by establishing four core components (research methods and statistics;public health workforce development; communication, marketing, and dissemination; andadministrative).Collaborating organizations include three universities, University of Georgia in the lead withMorehouseSchool of Medicine, and the University of Alabama; ORC Macro, a private sector firm withextensiveexperience in health communication and marketing; and the Georgia Division of Public Health. Twenty-fourresearchers and practitioners from diverse disciplinary and personal backgrounds from these institutions willcollaborate to address these critical issues. A Lay/Community Advisory Board and a National ResearchAdvisory Board will provide valuable external input into the Center's activities. Communication andmarketing, if conducted in a relevant and appropriate manner, offer great potential for improving the health ofthe poor and the near poor.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Office of The Director, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (ODCDC)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
3P01CD000242-03S1
Application #
7687769
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZCD1-MOX (02))
Program Officer
Burton, Denise
Project Start
2005-09-30
Project End
2009-09-29
Budget Start
2008-09-30
Budget End
2009-09-29
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$35,000
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Georgia
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
004315578
City
Athens
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30602
Bigsby, Elisabeth; Monahan, Jennifer L; Ewoldsen, David R (2017) An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions. Health Commun 32:409-419
Freimuth, Vicki S; Hovick, Shelly R (2012) Cognitive and emotional health risk perceptions among people living in poverty. J Health Commun 17:303-18
Hovick, Shelly R; Freimuth, Vicki S; Johnson-Turbes, Ashani et al. (2011) Multiple health risk perception and information processing among African Americans and whites living in poverty. Risk Anal 31:1789-99
Shen, Lijiang (2011) The effectiveness of empathy- versus fear-arousing antismoking PSAs. Health Commun 26:404-15
Hovick, Shelly R; Johnson-Turbes, C Ashani; Freimuth, Vicki S et al. (2011) Assessing perceptions of and responses to multiple health risks among the southern poor. Prev Chronic Dis 8:A11
Harris, Tina M; Keeley, Bethany; Barrientos, Samantha et al. (2009) A religious framework as a lens for understanding the intersection of genetics, health, and disease. Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet 151C:22-30
Shen, Lijiang; Condit, Celeste M; Wright, Lanelle (2009) The psychometric property and validation of a fatalism scale. Psychol Health 24:597-613