United Way partnership targets families to reduce secondhand smoke exposure

InThe Emory Prevention Research Center (EPRC) is taking another step to reduce secondhand smoke exposure.

Funded by a $6.75 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, EPRC will test an intervention to help callers to United Way 2-1-1 make their homes smoke-free. United Way 2-1-1 is a 24/7 helpline and website that connects people in need with community resources such as food and utility assistance, housing, and health care.

“Most smokers are aware of the negative effects of smoking for themselves and are responsive to messages about protecting their loved ones,” says Michelle Kegler, EPRC director and associate professor of behavioral sciences and health education. “This project focuses on creating rules about not smoking in the home rather than asking smokers to quit.”

The new research builds on EPRC’s pilot work with Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute and the CDC-funded Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) to test the intervention at local Georgia health departments. Kegler’s team now is working with CPCRN partners at the University of North Carolina, the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, and Washington University. The United Way 2-1-1 sites in Atlanta, North Carolina, Houston, and Missouri will participate as well.

“One key component to a thriving community is living a healthy lifestyle,” says Milton Little, president of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. “We are proud to be part of a program that could improve the quality of life for so many families and households.”

Emory public health leaders named to state board

RSPH Dean James Curran was among the voices in Georgia calling for the creation of a state Department of Public Health. Today, Curran is one of nine health leaders appointed by Governor Nathan Deal to the Georgia Board of Public Health, which advises the new department.

The board and the department have strong ties to Emory. Brenda Fitzgerald 77M, department commissioner, trained at Emory and Grady Memorial Hospital. Serving with Curran on the public health board are James Smith and Gary Nelson. Smith, retired associate director of radiation in CDC’s Center for

Environmental Health, is an adjunct professor at Rollins in environmental health, while Nelson, president of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, is an adjunct professor in behavioral sciences.

Phillip Williams, dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia, also serves with Curran on the state board. Last year, Curran and Williams co-wrote an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial calling for establishing a state health department led by a commissioner who reports to the governor.

Until last summer, public health was a division in the state’s Department of Community Health. A 2010 report issued by the Georgia Public Health Commission recommended elevating the Division of Public Health to department status to streamline the state’s response to new and persistent health problems.

The advantages are clear, as Fitzgerald notes. “A new stand-alone department will provide public health more agility to better meet the health needs of all Georgians.”