The Deep South Network for Cancer Control (DSNCC) focuses on some of the most impoverished and underserved areas in the US. The rural MS Delta, AL Black Belt and inner city of Birmingham, AL and Hattiesburg, Laurel, MS have exceptionally high rates of cancer mortality, cancer disparity and obesity. The DSNCC has for 9 yrs systematically addressed the major cancer health concerns of these areas. A community based infrastructure was established that in collaboration with three academic institutions addressed disparity in cervical and breast cancer screening and more recently in colorectal cancer screening, lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating. During this period we have expanded our community infrastructure in our targeted areas to include a Community Network Partnership (CNP) in each county. Building upon our community-academic partnership, our success in promoting cancer screening, increasing physical activity and incorporating healthy eating into churches, we have the following overall Specific Aims: 1-Through the Community Outreach Core, promote screening for breast, cervix, and colorectal cancer and increased physical activity and healthy eating through a community based participatory approach that includes development of a Community Action Plan that targets all levels of the socio-ecological model;2- through the Research Core develop, implement, and evaluate the efficacy of a community-based, participatory, culturally-relevant intervention to reduce body weight among African American women residing in rural communities in the Deep South through a group randomized trial. Also, develop, implement, and disseminate the results of 3 pilot projects that address the needs of the community as well as the NCI requirements, with the first having a primary focus of addressing the need of revisiting the current colorectal cancer screening guidelines for African Americans;3-through the Training Core train a cadre of new investigators who are committed to community based participatory research (CBPR) to eliminate cancer health disparities. The activities of these cores will be coordinated by an Administrative Core.
This is a highly relevant project that addresses an African-American population in a geographic location that suffers disproportionately from cancer, obesity and related co-morbidities. This network address these disparities in a systematic approach that increases its chance of success by employing community based participatory research and the socio-ecological model.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 25 publications
