A $2 million National Institutes of Health grant has been awarded to The University of Southern Mississippi Department of Nutrition and Food Systems for a five-year community-based participatory research intervention to increase walking in Hattiesburg.

Based on a previous successful Department of Nutrition and Food Systems walking study model in another Mississippi community, the community research intervention will include the City of Hattiesburg as a research partner.  Southern Miss researchers, in collaboration with a community steering committee, will recruit key community members to assist with the implementation and evaluation of intervention components, including health improvements resulting from an increase in walking.

"Eliminating health disparities, increasing physical activity and reducing the proportion of adults with high blood pressure are all among our nation's key health objectives. Despite these important objectives, evidence-based recommendations are lacking for community-based programs promoting physical activity," said Dr. Kathy Yadrick, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Systems in the College of Health and principal investigator of the grant.

"With this grant, we hope to see some real health improvements for Hattiesburg residents, but also to learn more about successful approaches that we can in turn share with other communities that place a priority on health of their residents."

The project contains three components that include developing and assessing the community to promote physical activity and healthy food choices, an intervention phase to test the effects on blood pressure and other health indicators from a walking program using social support, and a maintenance phase to determine if motivational enhancement helps individuals to sustain walking after the intervention.

"I am extremely excited about the opportunity to partner with Southern Miss to positively impact the health and wellbeing of our citizens through the grant funded by NIH Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities,” said Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny L. DuPree, PhD. “I am confident that this process will improve the quality of life of our residents, and be the catalyst for change for healthy living for residents across the state.”

The National Institutes of Health grant comes from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities to promote minority health and lead, coordinate, support and assess the NIH effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities.

“We are very excited about this award. National Institutes of Health grants are among the toughest federal dollars to win in competitive situations,” said Dr. Cecil Burge, vice president of research and economic development. “This says a lot about the strides this institution is making in terms of the ability of our faculty to compete on a national scale.”

Community-based participatory research plays a direct role in the design and conduct of this project by bringing community members into the study as partners and participants, rather than subjects; using the knowledge of the community to understand health problems and design activities to improve health; connecting community members directly with how the research is done and its results and providing immediate benefits from the results of the research to the community that participated in it.

“We’re also pleased that this project is going to increase the connectivity with our local community, and in the process, we will be able to leverage our research to improve the quality of life for residents,” Burge said.

About The University of Southern Mississippi
The University of Southern Mississippi, founded in 1910, is a comprehensive doctoral and research-extensive university fulfilling its mission of being a leading university in engaging and empowering individuals to transform lives and communities.  In a tradition of leadership for student development, Southern Miss is educating a 21st century work force providing intellectual capital, cultural enrichment and innovation to Mississippi and the world.  Southern Miss is located in Hattiesburg, Miss., with an additional campus and teaching and research sites on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; further information is found at www.usm.edu.