COLUMBIA – A research team at the University of South Carolina has been awarded a $2.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to improve the general health of residents in three under-served communities in South Carolina.

Led by psychology professor Dr. Dawn Wilson, the project is part of the S.C. Nutrition Research Consortium. The research team comprises faculty from the university as well as from Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina.

The program will get under way in late fall in low-income, largely African-American communities. The researchers will work with 130 adults, ages 18 and older, in each of the three communities, yet to be announced.

“Very few people work with such impoverished, vulnerable communities,” Wilson said. “We wanted to find those pocket communities that are under-served and work with the residents to create programs that will have a positive and lasting impact on their mental, social and physical health.”

Through focus groups with residents, Wilson identified several community needs.

“They said they want to know their neighbors and feel connected to their community,” she said. “They also wanted a safer environment for physical activity and interaction.”

Wilson said community involvement and leadership are key in ensuring the program’s success. Each community has a steering community, made up of residents and a community leader who will serve as a liaison with the research team, local law enforcement, city and county leaders and local churches and schools.

Two communities will have a police-patrolled walking program, each tailored differently. The third community will have an educational program aimed at improving access to healthcare by making information and guest speakers available on topics such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and stroke, all of which are more acute among African-Americans.

Wilson said the S.C. Nutrition Research Consortium, which began in 2003 to foster more research on improving the health of South Carolinians, played a major role in the NIH grant award.

“The consortium encourages collaboration, creative exchange and team building, which are essential to make research and statewide programs like this possible,” she said.

In addition to Wilson, the NIH grant team includes Dr. Patricia Sharpe, Arnold School of Public Health; Dr. Abe Wandersman and Dr. M. Lee Van Horn, psychology department at the university; Dr. Brent Egan, MUSC; and Dr. Sarah Griffin, Clemson.

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