W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s $700K grant addresses health disparities among Blacks

Communications tell U.S. audience how Mississippi attacked COVID-19

University Communications recently represented the College of Health Sciences at the annual conference of the American Public Health Association in Denver, Colorado. They delivered a presentation about the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic in areas of Mississippi and touted the success of town halls, along with traditional and digital marketing. Tangelia Kelly, Ph.D., assistant marketing director, and L.A. Warren, former media relations specialist, facilitated a roundtable discussion on the topic of “Town Halls Help Change African Americans’ Behaviors for Reducing COVID-19 Infections in Hard-hit Central Mississippi.” Throughout the year, Kelly and Warren assisted health sciences by promoting safety and vaccinations to the public through a campaign titled “It’s Not Over Yet.” Kelly told the audience that “changing the behavior of others is not an easy task. It takes education and building trust. JSU emphasized the importance of wearing face coverings, social distancing, handwashing, testing and other ways to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Our campaign was a mix of traditional and digital marketing tactics that included billboards, commercials, radio spots, a landing web page and a digital campaign consisting of display ads and paid social ads.” Warren said, “Because of greater knowledge absorbed from the town halls, people have made better decisions. Since early this year, JSU has provided more than 2,000 doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines to students, faculty, staff and community members.” He credited a long-term, ongoing partnership with the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, which administers free vaccinations weekly on campus at One University Place, Suite 6, 1100 John R. Lynch Street.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s $700K grant addresses health disparities among Blacks

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided a $700,000 grant to Jackson State University’s College of Health Sciences, which is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health, to launch the first phase of its Digital Tele-Health Hub (DTH) that will address historical health disparities among African Americans. The coronavirus pandemic and its variants have raised the topics of social injustice and health inequity to the top of the agenda for many businesses and governments. Girmay Berhie, Ph.D., principal investigator and dean of the College of Health Sciences, said the future looks bright for digital telehealth. “Jackson State University is uniquely positioned to design, implement and scale DTH solutions. It has the potential to reduce costs, increase access, improve health outcomes and reshape how African Americans interact with healthcare systems and providers.” The project is in collaboration with the city of Jackson, the World Economic Forum and the Scripps Research Translational Institute. Mario Azevedo, Ph.D., professor in JSU’s College of Liberal Arts, and Fidelis Ikem, Ph.D., dean of JSU’s College of Business, are co-principal investigators of the project.