Impact Report 2020 Spring greetings from Delta Health Alliance in Stoneville. Thanks for your interest in DHA, especially this year, as we build better communities by providing health care, education and family services. We addressed the challenges presented by the pandemic with innovative programming, adaptive technology, and experienced staff. By improving education outcomes, preventing teen pregnancies, keeping people out of the hospital, and much more, Delta Health Alliance saves the state of Mississippi millions of taxpayer dollars. The enclosed findings, prepared by our research partner, the Center for Community Research and Evaluation at the University of Memphis, highlight some of the more noteworthy outcomes from Delta Health Alliance’s programming.
DHA has been improving the quality of life in the Mississippi Delta for almost 20 years. DHA forms innovative partnerships to offer the tools, guidance and resources to meet the needs and challenges of those who call the Delta and surrounding area their home. Two principles guide our work in the Delta: using data to make decisions and building community partners to manage our programs. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta Health Alliance programming still positively impacted the community.
DHA immediately increased efforts to address food insecurity in the community.
Making an Impact When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted every aspect of our lives in March 2020, Delta Health Alliance supplemented its regular programming to meet the immediate needs of the Mississippi Delta’s residents.
Installed a community garden in Leland Provided more than 100 supplies to families to start home gardens
DHA worked to ensure students quickly had internet access at home.
Delivered more than 3,000 pounds of produce to Delta families Configured 1,650 personal hotspots for Delta families
Delivered 591 produce packages to homes and food pantries
Distributed 1,800 Chromebooks
Improving Mental Health in the Delta
Mental health improved among DHA prediabetes patients.
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a widespread mental health crisis as people across the country were forced to spend more time alone. Behavioral health services played a vital role in many people’s lives last year, including Delta Health Alliance’s mental health programming, which has a history of positive outcomes.
The suicide rate within the DHA service area declined while it increased in similar counties. Comparison Group
+2%
Rates for program participants
Anxiety
67%
Percent of participants who maintained sobriety in the previous month 100%
Depression
88%
100%
80%
DHA Service Area
60%
In DHA’s substance use disorder program, Delta STAR, 100% of patients enrolled for six months maintained full sobriety.
-30%
MSTAHRS 2019, Rate per 100,000 Adult Population Service Area: Sunflower, Washington, Bolivar. Comparison Group: Delta minus DeSoto and service area
0%
6 MONTHS CHECK-UP
ENROLLMENT
2
Leland Medical Clinic
High risk patients showed clinically signficant health improvements.
At the Delta Health Alliance’s Leland Medical Clinic, our staff focuses on providing a medical home for the Leland community. LMC’s patientcentered approach to medical care results in better patient experiences and health outcomes.
Blood Pressure
28%
LMC patients with hypertension are nearly three times as likely to see a significant improvement in their condition than a significant decline. Likewise, patients at risk of diabetes are nearly twice as likely to see a significant improvement in blood glucose than a decline.
1 in 4 hypertensive patients showed large improvements.
Glucose Levels
44% 4 in 10 patients with high diabetes risk showed large improvements.
Teen pregnancy rates in targeted counties declined 79% more than in similar Mississippi counties.
Preventing Teen Pregnancies and Saving Taxpayer Dollars Delta Health Alliance’s Delta Futures program provides health education to teens in Delta schools and clinical settings to reduce teen pregnancy rates. Last year, Delta Health Alliance launched the third iteration of this successful program, Delta Futures III.
Rate per 1,000 African American teens ages 10-19, 2014-16 to 2017-19
-2.4
Delta Futures has had a measurable impact on teen pregnancy rates. In counties with significant program reach, the teen pregnancy rate fell by 4.3 pregnancies per 1,000 African American girls, while the most intensively served county saw rates decline by about 14 pregnancies. Both teen pregnancy rate reductions are far higher than changes observed in comparable rural Mississippi counties.
Researchers estimate Delta Futures has averted 147 pregnancies and generated benefits to taxpayers of more than $4 million.
-4.3
-14.2
Comparison Group
Delta Futures Service Area
Plurality-Black and rural counties in Mississippi, other than service area
Counties in which DHA reached at least 10% of Black female teenagers
Most intensively served county: Quitman Reach: Nearly two-thirds of Black female teenagers
$4 MILLION Pregnancies averted
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Benefits to taxpayers
Training Future Computer Scientists
Students gained coding knowledge.
High schoolers from Leland High School learned to code at Delta Health Alliance’s Leland Summer Coding Camps in July. Computer programming is an essential skill needed to work in Mississippi’s and the country’s growing computer science industry.
Pre to Post Summer Camp
The share of correct answers on the campers’ coding assessment increased by nearly 30 percentage points after completing camp, and the percent of campers interested in pursuing software engineering or computer science as a career also increased.
+30%
Workforce Development After attending the Leland Coding summer camp, more students are interested in a career in software engineering or computer science.
Summer Camps Prevent Learning Loss Our summer camps have a track record of measurable safeguards against summer learning loss, which made it all the more important students had access to camps last summer.
Parents and educators worry about learning loss every summer but were even more concerned this summer after the global coronavirus pandemic shut down schools in the spring. Fortunately, Delta Health Alliance’s Deer Creek summer camp was able to safely serve 190 students.
Summer camp participants showed meaningful gains in core subjects from one school year to another. Gain in Percentile Rank SY 2019-20 to SY 2020-21
+4.8
+3.2
+2.3
+1.8 Leland
Hollandale
Leland
Reading
Hollandale
Math
4
Program Highlight: Summer Camps 2020
DHA’s Summer Camps Persisted Despite COVID-19 Challenges DEER CREEK, Miss. -- In a world of new challenges born of the COVID-19 health crisis, the Delta Health Alliance (DHA) found ways to serve the young people of the Deer Creek Promise Community last summer.
“I was impressed with the ways that the staff worked to make sure the kids were safe,” said Linda McClinton, parent of a five-year-old Promise School student.
The success of three DHA summer camps provided not only a chance for kids to continue their education, but provided the organization with an important road map to follow into the fall. Those camps – the Head Start Promise School, the Literacy Fellows summer session and a new Coding Camp for budding computer information aficionados – achieved their goals amid the global disruption of a pandemic.
“To prepare him for kindergarten while being so mindful of his health and safety made me feel really good as a parent.” The same held true for the Literacy Fellows camp and the Coding Camp, which taught students the basics of coding and the concepts behind it, such as algorithms and flow charts required to code computers.
“We were able to construct and follow a well-crafted plan that gave our young people an opportunity to learn in a safe, health-minded environment,” said Karen Matthews, president and CEO of the DHA.
“I think this camp will really help me in the future if I decide to have a career in computer science,” said a masked Nia Kenrick, a rising junior at Leland High School. “I didn’t even know what an algorithm was before this camp. It made computer science a new interest for me.”
“This was a group effort involving our dedicated staff, trusting parents and eager students who all understood and met the challenges we faced.” As the camps opened and operated to prepare kids for kindergarten and the upcoming school year, campers adapted quickly to temperature checks, sanitizing stations, face masks, and social distancing.
Summer Camp Participants 5
Board of Directors
State Program Partners
Bill Kennedy, Chair The Honorable Willie Bailey, Vice Chair Lisa Percy, Secretary
Capps Technology Center Center for Community Research and Evaluation at University of Memphis Children’s Defense Fund Delta Council Delta Housing Development Corporation Delta State University Entergy Excel By 5 LIFE (Living Independence for Everyone) of Mississippi Mississippi 211 Mississippi Access to Care Network Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police Mississippi Center for Education Innovation Mississippi Center for Justice Mississippi Delta Community College Mississippi Department of Employment Security Mississippi Department of Human Services Mississippi Farm To School Network Mississippi Food Corps, partner on USDA Community Foods project Mississippi Food Network Mississippi Health Advocacy Program Mississippi Low Income Childcare Initiative Mississippi State Department of Education Mississippi State University - NSPARK Mississippi United to End Homelessness Mississippi Valley State University Planter’s Bank and Trust Renasant Bank South Delta Regional Housing Authority Southern Bancorp The Diaper Bank of the Delta University of Mississippi – Jumpstart University of Mississippi Center for Excellence in Literacy Instruction University of Southern Mississippi Writing Project at University of Mississippi
Dr. LeShon Brooks Woods Eastland Don Green Walton Gresham Commissisoner Willie Simmons Myrtis Tabb
Funding Partners Amerigroup BUILD Health Challenge Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Emory University Guaranty Bank and Trust Mississippi Division of Medicaid Mississippi State Department of Health Mississippi State University Monsanto Phil Hardin Foundation The Beaumont Foundation United Healthcare U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Department of Education U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Department of Justice Whole Kids Foundation
Regional & National Program Partners Administration for Children and Families AmeriCorps*VISTA Annie E. Casey Foundation Christian Brothers University Department of Labor Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Girl Scouts – Heart of the South Hope Credit Union Mississippi Governor’s Office - GEER Office of Adolescent Health Office of Head Start Office of Rural Health Parents as Teachers Parents for Public Schools Rhodes College SAMHSA – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Save the Children Sesame Workshop Strive Together Teach for America University of Memphis University of Tennessee Urban Child Institute
www.DeltaHealthAlliance.org
Local Program Partners Aaron E Henry Community Health Service Center B.B. King Museum Baptist Memorial HospitalNorth Mississippi Bayou Academy Bolivar County Community Action Agency Bolivar County Council on Aging Bolivar Medical Center Bolivar Medical OB/GYN Carroll County School District City of Greenwood City of Indianola City of Leland City of Ruleville Clarksdale Municipal School District Coahoma County School District Coahoma County Youth Outreach Delta Arts Alliance Delta Cotton Belles
6
Delta Family Medical Center Desoto Family Counseling Center Forever Lifting Youth (FLY Zone) Friendship MBC G Hope MBC Greenville Christian School Greenwood Leflore Consolidated Public School District, formerly Greenwood Public School District Greenwood Leflore Hospital Hollandale Economic Community Development Foundation Hollandale School District Indianola Literacy Coalition Indianola Mayor’s Health Council Indianola P-16 Council King Temple Leflore County Health Center Leland Deacon Alliance Leland School District Mallory Community Health Center Merit Health River Region Mississippi State University Extension Carroll County New Jerusalem MBC New Mount Zion MBC North Sunflower Medical Center On Track Community Development Corporation Our House, Inc Parents for Public Schools Parkwood Behavioral Health System Pave /Med Ed Services Pecan Grove Therapeutic Home Quitman County School District Rainbow Learning Center Rasperry Men’s Club Region I: Fairland Treatment Center South Delta School District South Sunflower County Hospital Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center St Luke MBC Sunflower County Childcare Association Sunflower County Consolidated School District Sunflower County Freedom Project Sunflower County Judicial System Sunflower County Ministerial Alliance Sunflower County United for Children Sunflower Humphreys County Progress, Inc. The Endocrine Clinic – Dr. Jay Cohen Town of Arcola Town of Hollandale Town of Inverness Vicksburg-Warren School District Warren-Washington- Issaquena-Sharkey Community Action Agency, Inc. Washington County Economic Alliance Washington County Judicial System Washington County Opportunities, Inc. Washington County Sheriff’s Department Yazoo City School District Yazoo County School District
April 2021