In This Newsletter:

• Small Grants
• EPRC Research Summit
• Infographics

A total of $120,000 in grants is awarded under EPRC's small grants program for community initiatives that enhance rural Georgia's quality of life.

Through the continued support of the CDC, the Emory Prevention Research Center awarded seven grants totaling $120,000 to recipients. Funding of up to $10,000 will be provided to community organizations, and up to $35,000 will be provided to 2-1-1 United Way Agencies (with identified community programs) for the delivery of the HH/HF program. Similar to our current study, the intervention will include a survey about the home food environment, a tailored home food environment profile, six coaching sessions and six text messages supporting families to structure their home food environment to promote healthy eating. 

All seven awardees serve Georgia:

• Randolph County Family Connection, Inc.
• Valley Healthcare Systems
• Mount Zion Community Reinvestment Corporation
• The Food Mill
• Albany State University
• United Way of Southwest GA (Albany)
• United Way of Central GA (Macon)

In the next few weeks, we will hold a 2-day virtual training where all the sites can collaborate and strategize with each other on how to deliver the program within their respective communities. 

As part of the mini-grant program, the EPRC will provide a manual and evaluate the implementation of the intervention to help recipients with implementation. Additionally, the EPRC will offer technical assistance (TA) on a bimonthly basis throughout the grant term. A post-grant assessment will be conducted to determine how well the program aligns with ongoing healthy living efforts, facilitators and barriers to program implementation, and changes made to the program, if any.

HPV Vaccine Small Grants

At the kickoff meeting in December, we had a training about HPV vaccination in Georgia delivered by Dr. Bob Bednarczyk.  Dr. Cam Escoffery and Courtney Petagna, Project Coordinator, provided training on evidence-based practices. We also offered a toolkit which encompasses evidence-based strategies for all three levels from reputable sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPV Roundtable, and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The grantees used the resources in the toolkit to assist with their multi-level intervention and developed strategies to implement. 

In addition to the funds and the toolkit the Emory CPCRN has been providing technical assistance (TA) calls every other month since January to each site individually. During the off months, we host a learning collaborative meeting where all four sites communicate and strategize with each other on their multi-level intervention.

Dr. Michelle Kegler, EPRC

Jennifer Johnston, Horizons Community Solutions

Darrell Sabbs, Phoebe Putney Hospital

We also conducted a brief community assessment through a Community Voice activity. Participants were broken up into 3 groups where they discussed leading health issues in their communities and some of the factors leading to those issues. The groups then prioritized some of the leading issues and/or factors. We then re-convened and shared the notes from each group. Some of these themes are presented in the Table below.

The Research Summit was a success with 45 community members and partners attending, in addition to 11 Emory affiliated individuals, and 2 CDC representatives. According to the evaluation results, approximately 86% of survey respondents indicated that they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the EPRC Research Summit. Nearly 90% of respondents also indicated that they either ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that the summit’s threefold objectives were met. 

When asked what was most enjoyable about the summit, participants responded as follows:

When asked what participants would take away from the event, survey respondents answered with:

The EPRC is grateful to be working with such wonderful community members and partners and we look forward to continued engagement with communities in Southwest Georgia in the next year.

The Two Georgias Initiative was a 5-year effort funded by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, funding local coalitions to address health equity across rural Georgia. The EPRC served as the initiative’s evaluator and collected baseline data about food security, food access, healthy eating, physical activity, health, well-being, and social capital in SW Georgia. Read more about the results in our two infographics below.