ECHO program receives grant to reduce prostate cancer disparities in N.C.
| October 28, 2010 | |
|
A project led by the University of North Carolina Program on Ethnicity, Culture and Health Outcomes (ECHO) which aims to address the high rate of prostate cancer among African-American males in Caswell Co., N.C., has received a grant of $18,916 from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Community-Campus Partnership (CCP).
Dr. Anissa Vines
Anissa Vines, PhD, research assistant professor of epidemiology at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, is ECHO’s associate director. CCP is a campus-wide initiative, managed and administered through the UNC School of Government, to forge effective partnerships with economically distressed communities in North Carolina. ECHO received the award for its initiative, Carolina Community Network to Reduce Health Disparities, in support of the Prostate Cancer Ambassadors of Caswell County project. The project aims to address the significant prostate cancer burden in Caswell County, especially among African-American males, through a combination of community outreach and scholarly research. CCP offers small grants, ranging from $500 to $20,000, to full-time members of the faculty and staff of UNC-Chapel Hill and to UNC students to support projects that align with local priorities in Caswell and/or Lenoir counties. Projects must build local capacity, skills or knowledge to address current and future challenges in the areas of community and economic development, education, infrastructure or public health, and/or improve the livability and viability of local communities. The Prostate Cancer Ambassadors of Caswell County project will recruit 25 volunteers from the Cedar Creek Baptist Church Alliance, an association of 55 local African-American churches, to perform community health assessments throughout the county. Ambassadors will receive training from the On the Ground Prostate Cancer Ambassadors Program, a program of the North Carolina Institute for Minority Economic Development that works to build local capacity for research and increase knowledge of cancer. The Caswell County Health Department and Nia’s Ark, a nonprofit organization that provides educational opportunities to empower faith-based and community groups to promote healthy lifestyles among their constituents, also will play integral roles in the program.”For several years, the ECHO program has been aware of the health needs in Caswell County,” Vines said. “Funding from the CCP small grants program will enable us to begin documenting health needs in the African- American community, to build local capacity for research, and to determine how best to address the cancer burden in Caswell County through research.”
To learn more about the Community-Campus Partnership or additional funding opportunities, visit www.sog.unc.edu/programs/ccp or contact Kendra Cotton, CCP project director, at 919-843-7736 or kendra@unc.edu. UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, 919-966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
|
