Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities receives federal contract to improve health, reduce disparities in South Texas colonias

Posted on April 5, 2013 by Rae Lynn Mitchell
Project team members in front of the Progreso Family Community Center

Project team members in front of the Progreso Family Community Center (left to right): Elva Beltran (promotora), Daisy Garces (Outreach Director at Progreso Family Community Center), Maria Davila (promotora supervisor), Dr. Joseph Sharkey (Project Director), Esther Valdez (promotora) and Melissa Gómez (Project Coordinator). Absent from the picture is Julie St. John (Community Engagement Coordinator).

The Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health recently was awarded a Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) contract of $148,000 annually for five years.

Funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) REACH initiative under a sub-award from Hidalgo Medical Services Center for Health Innovation, the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, under its Construyendo Comunidades Fronterizas Más Sanas (Building Healthier Border Communities) Initiative, is working to promote healthy eating, active living and healthy weight to help improve health and reduce health disparities in Progreso-area colonias in Hidalgo County.

REACH is a CDC program focusing on comprehensive strategies to improve well-being and lessen and eliminate chronic disease disparities among African-Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians or Alaska Natives, Asian-Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

Joining other awardees in Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities will address health inequities impacting Hispanic/Latino populations through its Mejorando la Salud Comunitaria en Progreso – Improving Community Health in Progreso (ICHP) – by using a promotora-led community-based approach to identify, develop and disseminate effective strategies for improving community health through nutrition and physical activity. This program emphasizes the importance of developing and maintaining strong partnerships to guide and support the work.

As a community-based initiative, this project is led by Joseph Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., RD, professor at TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health and founding director of the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, and ICHP leadership team and community partnerships. The community leadership team, known as the Progreso Community Health Advisory Council (P-CHAC), consists of Progreso area promotoras, residents, business owners and organizations (Progreso Family Community Center is the lead community organization.). The P-CHAC will facilitate engagement of the greater Progreso community and promote the growth of community-based partnerships that can identify community health concerns and facilitate community-based solutions to improving the long-term health of community residents.

This project has been made possible by the REACH Su Comunidad Consortium consisting of Hidalgo Medical Services Center for Health Innovation, Northwest Regional Primary Care Association, Center of Excellence in Women’s Health at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health El Paso Regional Campus.

The consortium will provide intensive training and technical assistance to 10 sub-recipients across five states.

 
Contact Information

Rae Lynn Mitchell

rlmitchell@srph.tamhsc.edu  |  (979) 458-0773


The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides health education, outreach and research through its colleges and campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Temple, Houston, Round Rock, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

Graduate describes rates of child food insecurity in Mexican-origin families in Texas border colonias

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Rae Lynn Mitchell
Courtney Nalty, M.S.P.H.

Courtney Nalty, M.S.P.H.

Courtney Nalty, M.S.P.H., graduate of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health epidemiology department and data coordinator for the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, recently was the lead author on an article that described the rates of child food insecurity in Mexican-origin families in Texas border colonias.

“Children’s reporting of food insecurity in predominately food insecure households in Texas border colonias” was published in Vol. 12 of the Nutrition Journal. Researchers examined the reported rates of food insecurity among young children and adolescents compared to those of their mothers.

“Greater than one-quarter of all Hispanic households in the United States are food insecure,” Nalty said.

In 2010, researchers collected data from 50 Hispanic children ages 6-11 and their mothers who reside in Texas-Mexico border colonias. They found that despite there being high rates of food insecurity across the board, children reported lower rates than mothers.

“The discordance may be attributable to parental buffering, social desirability in responses and/or the age of children included in the sample,” Nalty said.

Nalty argues there are several factors that may contribute to this discrepancy, and further research is necessary to fully understanding how “food security is understood from the perspectives and experiences of children and adolescents.”

Co-authors on the article from the TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health include Joseph R. Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., RD, and Wesley Dean, Ph.D. Research was supported in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Healthy Eating Research Program, National Institutes of Health/National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Prevention Research Centers Program through Core Research Project and Special Interest Project Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network, and by USDA RIDGE Program subaward through the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University.

 
Contact Information

Rae Lynn Mitchell

rlmitchell@srph.tamhsc.edu  |  (979) 458-0773


The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides health education, outreach and research through its colleges and campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Temple, Houston, Round Rock, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

Researchers emphasize empowerment of promotora-researchers in community-based projects

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Rae Lynn Mitchell
Julie St. John, M.A., M.P.H., C.H.W.I.

Julie St. John, M.A., M.P.H., C.H.W.I.

Promotoras, trusted individuals among underserved Hispanic communities, possess a unique ability to serve as a cultural bridge between their community and outside researchers. Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health researchers emphasize the empowerment of promotora-researchers in community-based projects in a recent study.

“Empowerment of Promotoras as Promotora-Researchers in the Comidas Saludables & Gente Sana en las Colonias del Sur de Tejas (Healthy Food and Healthy People in South Texas Colonias) Program” is online in the Journal of Primary Prevention and will be in an upcoming issue.

“Promotora-researchers have the opportunity to not only provide outreach and education but also to be actively engaged in conducting research in their communities,” said Joseph Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., RD, professor in the TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health and founding director of the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities. “We have identified that active engagement, acquisition and utilization of new skills and the valuing of input empowered promotora-researchers in all phases of the research study.”

Researchers concluded active participation of promotoras with researchers enabled them to fully participate in research projects while meeting the social and health needs within their communities.

Study lead author is Julie St. John, M.A., M.P.H., CHWI, South Texas regional director for the Center for Community Health Development. Additional TAMHSC-School of Rural Public Health contributors include Sharkey; Cassandra M. Johnson, M.S.P.H.; Wesley R. Dean, Ph.D.; and Gabriela Arandia, M.S.P.H.

 
Contact Information

Rae Lynn Mitchell

rlmitchell@srph.tamhsc.edu  |  (979) 458-0773


The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides health education, outreach and research through its colleges and campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Temple, Houston, Round Rock, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

Graduate publishes study on injury prevention training in colonias

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Rae Lynn Mitchell
Norma I. Garza, M.P.H.

Norma I. Garza, M.P.H.

Norma I. Garza, M.P.H., a recent graduate of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health, has a study published in the Texas Public Health Journal on the impact that injury prevention training has on low-income families and unintentional childhood injuries.

“The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of injury prevention training for Mexican-American households living in impoverished areas along the Texas-Mexico border, known as colonias, and to conduct a home hazards assessment,” said Garza, who graduated from the McAllen campus. “Children from ethnic minority groups are more likely to suffer unintentional injuries than non-Hispanic white children.”

The most common non-fatal injuries for U.S. children are unintentional, such as falls or contact with harmful household products.

The study in the Fall 2012 issue of Texas Public Health Journal showed training on injury prevention and home safety education significantly impacted the behaviors of families in the home. However, many minority families and low-income households along the Texas-Mexico border lack the training and awareness needed to properly anticipate and prevent such unintentional injuries related to home safety practices.

“Most childhood injuries occur in the home and are preventable through home safety modifications such as smoke detectors, stove guards, fire extinguishers and safety caps on electrical outlet plugs,” Garza said. “The need for home safety training among low-income minority households is significant. To achieve this, a culturally appropriate home safety and injury prevention curriculum can be used to train parents and caregivers.”

Additional TAMHSC study authors include Genny Carrillo Zuniga, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.P.H., Sc.D.; Luohua Jiang, Ph.D.; Nelda Mier, Ph.D.; John Hellsten, Ph.D.; and Antonio Rene, Ph.D., M.P.H.

 
Contact Information

Rae Lynn Mitchell

rlmitchell@srph.tamhsc.edu  |  (979) 458-0773


The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides health education, outreach and research through its colleges and campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Temple, Houston, Round Rock, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

Dr. Sharkey awarded grant for border nutrition and obesity project

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Rae Lynn Mitchell
Joseph R. Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., RD

Joseph R. Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., RD

Joseph R. Sharkey, Ph.D., M.P.H., RD, professor at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) School of Rural Public Health and founding director of the Program for Research in Nutrition and Health Disparities, was recently awarded $140,000 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Research Center program for a two-year Texas Border Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network project (TxBNOPRE).

The TxBNOPRE will work with the larger Nutrition and Obesity Policy Research and Evaluation Network (NOPREN) to respond to issues related to the identification of policies that affect improved access and availability of health foods and beverages.

“Although obesity has risen at alarming rates among all segments of the population, prevalence is highest among Mexican-American children and continues to increase among the poor and near-poor,” Dr. Sharkey said. “Mexican-origin children and families in the colonias of the Lower Rio Grande Valley reside in areas that demonstrate high rates of childhood and adult obesity, poverty, food insecurity and geographic challenges associated with residence.”

The special initiative project is awarded competitively under the Prevention Research Center (PRC) funding program through Cooperative Agreement 5U48DP00192. Dr. Sharkey will act as principal investigator with Wesley R. Dean, Ph.D., as co-investigator. Additional collaborators include the larger NOPREN, South Texas community partners and South Texas colonias in an effort to examine aspects of policy change that seek to influence children’s access to healthy foods and beverages.

 
Contact Information

Rae Lynn Mitchell

rlmitchell@srph.tamhsc.edu  |  (979) 458-0773


The Texas A&M Health Science Center provides health education, outreach and research through its colleges and campuses in Bryan-College Station, Dallas, Temple, Houston, Round Rock, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and McAllen.

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