Sojourner-Douglass College (S-DC), the University of Maryland, School of Social Work (SSW), and the East Baltimore Community Corporation (EBCC) have established a collaborative academic-community partnership to develop a community-based, family centered approach to reducing infant mortality for residents in East Baltimore. The project's target population is African Americans in Baltimore City and the research is African American driven. The application will focus on using the Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and the PRECEDE/PROCEED models as frameworks for engaging the community in the development of an empirically based infant mortality reduction research action plan. These frameworks focus on developing stronger partnerships, using the community strengths, community forums and workshops, and research methods to design a study that meets the needs of the community. Funds are requested for 36 months for Phase I of a two phase project. At the end of Phase I, the project will focus on developing an action plan. The action plan will provide a sketch for the development of a community-based participatory research framework for designing and implementing a family-centered infant morality educational awareness intervention in Baltimore. Phase II of this project will involve obtaining funds to launch a community based infant mortality reduction program.
