Joint Center Announces $2.5 Million for its Campaign to Eliminate Health Disparities
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HPI will use a grant of $1.33 million during the coming year to develop and disseminate locally-tailored Community Health Equity reports in 24 communities where PLACE MATTERS teams are operating. Generating and disseminating research in these communities will lead to long-term improvements in the health of low-income communities and communities of color. The grant is from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health. HPI also will use a $1.25 million grant from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPH) to give PLACE MATTERS teams greater access to Internet-based tools for mapping, information sharing and community engagement. Then, the teams can monitor and collect data on community health status and social determinants of health and share ideas that work with other CDC grantees. NCCDPH is an agency in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This grant will be spent in equal parts over five years. “We are delighted to obtain new, long-term support for our PLACE MATTERS initiative, which is enabling local citizens to make genuine progress against health inequities in their communities,” said Everett. “These grants speak to the potential of PLACE MATTERS to empower people and transform neighborhoods to promote good health,” said Dr. Brian D. Smedley, Vice President and Director of HPI. PLACE MATTERS takes an approach that crosses disciplines in problem solving. Teams, comprised of public and private sector leaders, are exposed not only to experts in community health and public health but also others in economic development, transportation, affordable housing, public policy and smart growth. PLACE MATTERS has 16 teams across the United States that are engaged in forming partnerships with major stakeholders in a variety of fields to make systemic changes that can lead to improved health status in their communities. The program was initiated with generous support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. ### The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is one of the nation’s leading research and public policy institutions and the only one whose work focuses primarily on issues of particular concern to African Americans and other people of color. It will mark its 40th Anniversary of service in 2010. For more information about the Joint Center, please visit our Web site at www.jointcenter.org.
