College of Public Health and College of Liberal Arts researchers selected for pilot funding

Temple University’s College of Public Health (CPH) has announced recipients of pilot grants related to Community Driven Research Day (CDRD), an annual event held this past February. For the past six years, CPH has participated in and twice hosted, CDRD. The event brings together researchers and community organizations, both looking for mutually beneficial relationships that can improve community health.

This year’s participants included area non-profits, community groups, public sector partners, and researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, Jefferson University, and other local academic institutions. Temple faculty are encouraged to attend CDRD, meet community partners and submit grant requests to work with those organizations.

“The primary focus of chosen grants is not just on scientific merit but the strength of academic-community partnerships, well-defined roles and feasibility of accomplishing goals are extremely important,” according to Alice Hausman, senior director of the Office of Practice and Engagement at CPH.

Richard Deeg, senior associate dean for faculty and research at CLA added that “community-based participatory research puts the Academy and community on equal footing, working together to develop real-world solutions.”

After a rigorous review process following the last CDRD, the following three projects were selected for funding for one year:

• Healthy Kids Running Series (HKRS) promotes lifelong physical activity using a community based social cognitive theory framework. The program has been implemented in 27 states, including Pennsylvania, but never in North Philadelphia where youth have low levels of physical activity and high risk of chronic disease. Scott M. Ely from HKRS will work with CPH researchers Deirdre Dingman and Michael Sachs to evaluate and expand the program.
• Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems in Delaware County is trying to combat the rise in opioid addiction and overdose. In the last five years, there has been a 382% increase in accidental overdose deaths in the county. Funding was secured by the county to hire four Certified Recovery Specialists (CRS) who will work in the emergency room setting and screen, counsel and refer survivors of an opioid overdose to appropriate treatment providers. Beth Mingey with Holcomb will work with CPH researcher Stefan Keller to evaluate training outcomes.
• Mujeres Luchadoras (Women Working, Women Struggling) is a Norristownbased organization providing support to immigrant women who are victims of violence. Carmen Guerrero with the organization will work with CLA researchers Donna-Marie Peters, Elizabeth Sweet, and Rickie Sanders to evaluate the effectiveness of a customized financial training curriculum. If the curriculum is shown to be effective, it will provide a basis for developing community-based programs (cooperative businesses) that will in turn provide pathways for wealth building.

For more information about CDRD and working with community organizations contact Alice Hausman at hausman@temple.edu.