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The last several months have proven challenging for each of us as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and bear witness to the protests challenging systemic racism in our country. 

The Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) is dedicated to listening to and amplifying community voices around issues that impact inequities in health. To that end, we are introducing a new section to the CHC blog that provides the opportunity for our partners to share stories related to their experiences and issues of concern during the double pandemic of COVID-19 and structural racism, also known as a syndemic. We believe this section will be a resource for all of our partners and will serve an important role in providing historical context for those who look back at this time.

At CHC, mitigation strategies for COVID-19 required that we temporarily suspend recruitment for ongoing research studies. However, we found opportunities in the challenges presented by the pandemic. The CHC research team undertook a qualitative research project to understand the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in health disparate communities. Our All of Us Research team continues to engage with participants in that important study and line up new participants when recruitment resumes. With strict adherence to guidelines defined by the University of South Alabama, we’ve recently been able to restart recruitment on the DNA Healing and Disease Prevention study. Lastly, our Community Health Advocates continued to find creative ways to serve their communities in working for better health outcomes.

And, as always, we are happy to highlight the successes and activities of former participants in the STARS and STRIPES educational pipeline program.  We hope you find this newsletter useful and look forward to working with you in the future. 

Thank you for all you do for the health of our community!

Errol D. Crook, M.D.
Director of the USA Center for Healthy Communities
Abraham A. Mitchell Professor and Chair of Internal Medicine
PI of the NIMHD Center of Excellence In Health Disparities
Relaunching the Study DNA Healing and Disease Prevention
In March 2020, the University of South Alabama halted recruitment for studies requiring direct contact with research participants due to the worsening of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the USA Health Center for Healthy Communities paused recruitment for the study “DNA Healing and Disease Prevention.” The research, conducted in partnership with Principal Investigator Dr. Robert Sobol -chief of the  Molecular & Metabolic Oncology Program at the USA Health Mitchell Cancer Institute- incorporates community engagement practices to facilitate a population based approach to measure the capacity of human cells to repair DNA.  Recruitment activities were paused just after completing enrollment and data collection activities with the 21st community member enrolled in the study.
Understanding the Impact of the Pandemic on Inner City Residents
From the initial days of the pandemic, it became clear that minority populations experienced a higher share of severe COVID-19, as well as a relatively higher number of deaths from the disease when compared to the majority population. Minority communities also experience heightened economic and health hardship due to the mitigation steps to slow the spread of the virus. Given this reality, the Center for Healthy Communities sought to understand the needs of underserved minority residents in the area, in order to inform the response of community leaders, health care systems, social services agencies and other organizations.
Every Month is Community Health Advocate Appreciation Month
The community health advocate (CHA) program and Pipeline programs support the development of future healthcare providers and researchers and are both active programs of this division of CHC. 

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Education Pipeline Profile: Daphney R. Portis
Born in Prichard, Alabama, Daphney Portis is a product of the Mobile County Public School System and graduated fifth in the 2013 class at John L. LeFlore High School. Looking for opportunities to contribute to her community, Daphne seeks to offer a loving and supportive atmosphere similar to that her family and mentors gave her while growing up. A two time Auburn University Alum, with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration, Daphney’s journey has led her back to Prichard, and back to her roots.

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CHC Amplifies Community Voices around Racial Justice Issues
During this syndemic we have had to find new ways to meet, new ways to work, and new ways to learn. At the same time we are witnessing a movement for civil rights and justice of the magnitude that has not been seen for 50 years. We will be inviting many of our partners to provide content to be published on the CHC blog around issues on which they feel compelled to speak during this syndemic. We hope that you find these pieces valuable, thought provoking, and motivating. Some will be the opportunity for a release of emotion, some will be a call to action, some will offer a historical perspective, and some will be the early outline of a great idea. Others may outline the scope of the problems we have to conquer or highlight problems that have largely gone unnoticed. Some may be scholarly, well researched and referenced work, while others are based solely on personal opinion. What we expect them all to be, however, is a personal reflection of the many ways our community is impacted by this syndemic.

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Vision
Facilitate and support the development of enduring healthy communities through community-engagement and interdisciplinary research.
Resources
The Center for Healthy Communities website provides useful resources related to health disparities in our area, CBPR, and the social determinants of health. 
 
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University of South Alabama Center for Healthy Communities · 211 North Catherine Street · Mobile, AL 36604 · USA

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