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.
