The proposed project aims to characterize WIC participants in the Greater New Orleans area, including the Parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Lafourche, and Terrebonne, all of which experienced adverse environmental consequences following the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. These areas include a broad spectrum of economically disadvantaged and minority populations with historic health disparities. The overarching goal of the proposed project is to strengthen community resilience of vulnerable pregnant women and non-pregnant women of reproductive age by integrating community health workers as disaster interventionists and simple cellular and telephone technology as a viable and sustainable component of the health system, especially WIC Clinics. This CBPR project is explicitly designed to address community resiliency and assess the effectiveness of integrating the use of cell-phones into a WIC Community Health Education Program to improve pregnancy and post-partum outcomes among an under-served population through the following specific aims, 1) Develop a community-driven disaster mobile health platform to improve community resilience targeting selected Women Infants and Children (WIC) programs serving pregnant women and those of reproductive age 2) Train WIC-affiliated community health workers to serve as disaster interventionists with special curricular emphasis on maternal and child health, environmental health, risk communication, disaster preparedness, response, and recovery, cultural competence , and mobile health technology 3) Determine the impact of a community asset-driven health system integrating community health workers as disaster interventionists and tailored Information Technology (IT) to achieve sustained community resiliency 4) Examine the effect of the interactive capabilities of the disaster mobile health platform on just-in-case and just-in-time risk communication and community risk perception

Public Health Relevance

Pregnant WIC participants in Louisiana living in parishes affected by the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill and previously by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Gustav have increased stressors, are at continuous risk of natural and manmade disasters and have elevated concerns regarding adverse environmental and reproductive health outcomes. The goal of this project is to utilize cellular technology and CHWs as the focal frontline healthcare providers to improve prenatal and postpartum healthcare.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Program--Cooperative Agreements (U19)
Project #
1U19ES020677-01
Application #
8239659
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZES1-LWJ-J (DW))
Project Start
2011-06-27
Project End
2016-04-30
Budget Start
2011-06-27
Budget End
2012-05-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$187,550
Indirect Cost
Name
Tulane University
Department
Type
DUNS #
053785812
City
New Orleans
State
LA
Country
United States
Zip Code
70118
Harville, Emily W; Shankar, Arti; Zilversmit, Leah et al. (2018) The Gulf oil spill, miscarriage, and infertility: the GROWH study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 91:47-56
Mundorf, Christopher; Shankar, Arti; Moran, Tracy et al. (2018) Reducing the Risk of Postpartum Depression in a Low-Income Community Through a Community Health Worker Intervention. Matern Child Health J 22:520-528
Wickliffe, Jeffrey K; Simon-Friedt, Bridget; Howard, Jessi L et al. (2018) Consumption of Fish and Shrimp from Southeast Louisiana Poses No Unacceptable Lifetime Cancer Risks Attributable to High-Priority Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. Risk Anal 38:1944-1961
Harville, Emily W; Shankar, Arti; Dunkel Schetter, Christine et al. (2018) Cumulative effects of the Gulf oil spill and other disasters on mental health among reproductive-aged women: The Gulf Resilience on Women's Health study. Psychol Trauma 10:533-541
Mundorf, Christopher A; Lichtveld, Maureen Y (2018) Using community-based, ethnographic methods to examine risk perceptions and actions of low-income, first-time mothers in a post-spill environment. J Risk Res 21:308-322
Harville, Emily W; Shankar, Arti; Zilversmit, Leah et al. (2017) Self-Reported Oil Spill Exposure and Pregnancy Complications: The GROWH Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:
Jones, Christopher W; Gambala, Cecilia; Esteves, Kyle C et al. (2017) Differences in placental telomere length suggest a link between racial disparities in birth outcomes and cellular aging. Am J Obstet Gynecol 216:294.e1-294.e8
Zilversmit, Leah; Wickliffe, Jeffrey; Shankar, Arti et al. (2017) Correlations of Biomarkers and Self-Reported Seafood Consumption among Pregnant and Non-Pregnant Women in Southeastern Louisiana after the Gulf Oil Spill: The GROWH Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:
Mundorf, Christopher; Shankar, Arti; Peng, Terrance et al. (2017) Therapeutic Relationship and Study Adherence in a Community Health Worker-Led Intervention. J Community Health 42:21-29
Lichtveld, Maureen; Goldstein, Bernard; Grattan, Lynn et al. (2016) Then and now: lessons learned from community- academic partnerships in environmental health research. Environ Health 15:117

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