The Center for Population Studies/Institute for Community-Based Research is Involved with the New Pathways Program

A collaborative partnership between the Dreyfus Health Foundation of the Rogosin Institute, Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce, Tri-County Workforce Alliance, and the University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies, the New Pathways Program was developed to promote healthy behaviors and enhance education, ultimately creating a ‘pathway’ for youth interested in pursuing careers in healthcare and improving access to care for vulnerable families in the Delta region.

Middle and high school students participate in the program via the Tri-County Workforce Alliance to help with math, science, and reading classes. Middle school students work on projects to understand health conditions prevalent in their communities and high school participants complete job shadowing with nurses in local healthcare facilities. High school seniors are eligible to complete a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program. For students who continue on to nursing school, the Office of Nursing Workforce provides opportunities for unique hands-on nursing education through intensive clinical experiences on a Dedicated Education Unit (DEU). Through all of these opportunities, students gain substantial exposure to healthcare careers, as well as topnotch training to be effective service providers and leaders in their communities.

Participants in the New Pathways program are from Bolivar, Coahoma, Quitman, Sunflower, and Tallahatchie counties in Mississippi.  The Center for Population Studies is evaluating the program through the Institute for Community-Based Research.

Access the New Pathways Program Brochure.

Census Bureau Releases New 5-Year Estimates from the American Community Survey

See the press release just sent out from the U.S. Census Bureau. The new five-year estimates (2007-2011) are now available from the American Community Survey.

U.S. Census Bureau Releases the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates We are pleased to announce the release of the 2007-2011 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, the most relied-on source for detailed, up-to-date socio-economic statistics covering every community in the nation every year. These estimates give even the smallest communities timely information on more than 40 topics, such as educational attainment, income, occupation, commuting to work, language spoken at home, nativity, ancestry and selected monthly homeowner costs. Statistics are available for many distinct geographies including the nation, all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, counties, places,  and census tracts. For the first time, we will also publish estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA).  ZCTAs are approximate areal representations of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) 5-digit ZIP code service areas. Each ZCTA is identified by the most frequently occurring USPS ZIP Code for the addresses within that ZCTA, but may include addresses with other ZIP Codes as well. To access these statistics for all published ACS geographies except those at the block group level, please visit the Census Bureau’s American FactFinder. Information about accessing block group estimates using the summary file, including links to the FTP site, is available on the ACS Summary File Page. The ACS provides reliable statistics that are indispensable to anyone who has to make informed decisions about the future. These statistics are required by all levels of government to manage or evaluate a wide range of programs, but are also useful for research, education, journalism, business and advocacy. If you have questions about this survey, please call our Customer Services Center on 1 (800) 923-8282. Thank you, American Community Survey Office U.S. Census Bureau

The Journal of Rural Social Sciences Publishes Special Issue on Community-Based Research

The Journal of Rural Social Sciences (JRSS) just released a special issue focused on community-based research. Guest editors Anna Kleiner, Katie Kerstetter, and John Green worked with a diverse group of authors. The release of this special issue coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the Institute for Community-Based Research.

JRSS, the official publication of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, is available electronically for free (http://www.ag.auburn.edu/auxiliary/srsa/). The table of contents for this special issue is posted below.

Community-Based Research: Analysis of Outcomes for Learning and Social Change
by Anna M. Kleiner, Katie Kerstetter, and John J. Green

Lifting Spirits and Changing Lives: Analysis of Outcomes from One Organizations Journey with Community-Based Research
by Anna M. Kleiner and Sarah D. Walker

History as Community-Based Research and the Pedagogy of Discovery: Teaching Racial Inequality, Documenting Local History, and Building Links Between Students and Communities in Mississippi and Tennessee
by Spencer D. Wood and Ricardo Samuel

Imagination Enviro-Station: Students Connecting Students to Ecological Sustainability
by David Burley, Natalie Shelton, Chris Daunis, Jessica Cuifi, Jamie Walker, Maria Coleman, and Bertha-Fabianna Matheu

Examining Community-Based Research as an Application for Public Health Training
by JoLynn P. Montgomery and Dana L. Thomas

Community-Based Research and the Two Forms of Social Change
by Randy Stoecker

Insider, Outsider, or Somewhere Between: The Impact of Researchers’ Identities on the Community-Based Research Process
by Katie Kerstetter

Increasing Community Participation with Self-Organizing Meeting Processes
by Philip H. Howard

Who Counts Reality and Why it Counts: Searching for a Community-Based Approach to Quantitative Inquiry
by John J. Green

ICBR and Partners Work to Improve the Health of Children in the Mississippi Delta through the New Pathways Program

The Dreyfus Health Foundation received funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to engage community partners in the Mississippi Delta to improve health, access to care, and quality of life of vulnerable children and families through workforce development and education. Building on previous projects and partnerships, the New Pathways: Education and Workforce Development for Children’s Health in the Mississippi Delta program is a collaborative partnership between the Dreyfus Health Foundation, the Tri-County Workforce Alliance, and the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce. The University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies is conducting evaluation of the program.

The New Pathways program aims to address health disparities in the Delta region through community education and inspiring youth to pursue careers in healthcare. The partners work with youth as young as 6^th grade, and provides a pathway through high school and college to support young people to become healthcare professionals.

The New Pathways program also seeks to mobilize community members to create solutions to local health concerns through the use of the Dreyfus Health Foundation’s Problem Solving for Better Health (PSBH) process. In October 2012 a PSBH workshop was held with a group of middle school students involved in health and professional development programming through the Tri-County Workforce Alliance. The workshop was led and facilitated by a number of ICBR-affiliates, including John Green, Molly Phillips, Eleanor Green, Lynn Woo, Sarah Gayden Harris, and Kristen Horton-Hendrix, along with community partners.

University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies Represented at Cleveland Chinese Mission School Historical Marker Dedication in Cleveland, Mississippi

On October 21, 2012, the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum, Delta State University Capps Archives and Museum, and the City of Cleveland unveiled the historical marker for the Chinese Mission School in Cleveland, Mississippi. The Cleveland Chinese Mission School was built in 1937 to educate the Chinese children in the area who were not allowed to attend public schools in their towns. Funds for the school were raised by the local Chinese residents and Cleveland First Baptist Church. The marker was placed on the front lawn where the former school house once stood. Many former students attended the event and were honored during the program and reception that was held at the Delta State University Capps Archives and Museum following the unveiling. Guests were also encouraged to explore the 3^rd floor of the Capps Building to see the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum’s exhibit of various pictures, stories, and artifacts telling the story of the local Chinese community.

As part of the program at the Archives, Lynn Woo, Research Associate at the University of Mississippi (UM) Center for Population Studies, and Blake Gardner, an intern at the Center for Population Studies and graduate student in the UM Department of Sociology and Anthropology, spoke about the Mississippi Delta Chinese Oral History Project. This project is a collaboration started in the summer of 2012 between the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum, Delta State University Capps Archives and Museum, and the UM Center for Population Studies. As part of the project, previously collected oral histories were transcribed and indexed along with the creation of a Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum website. The oral history transcripts are available at the following website: www.mdchm.org.

John Green and Eleanor Green visit Cape Town, South Africa with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation

John Green and Eleanor Green on their way to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa

In late September and early October of 2012, John Green and Eleanor Green – two founders of the Institute for Community-Based Research – visited Cape Town, South Africa. They were part of a delegation associated with the University of Mississippi’s William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation. In addition to touring the city and surrounding areas (e.g. Cape of Good Hope), John and Eleanor participated in a series of meetings and workshops concerning social justice research and action. The sessions were focused on “Social Transformation through Societal Innovation.” Other participants in these hands-on meetings included people from across the United States (MS, HI, WA, DC, TX, CA, MA, CO, WI), South Africa, and Northern Ireland.

To find more about the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, please visit the following website.

http://www.winterinstitute.org/index.htm

Report Addresses Preterm Birth in Mississippi

The University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies recently released a report entitled, “Exploring Trends and Disparities in Preterm Birth in Mississippi.” This Population Brief was developed in partnership between Center researchers John Green, Sarah Gayden Harris, and Molly Phillips working in collaboration with Sannie Snell as part of the Right! from the Start initiative.

Green, J.J., S.G. Harris, M. Phillips, and S. Snell. “Exploring Trends and Disparities in Preterm Birth in Mississippi.” Population Brief. University of Mississippi: Center for Population Studies.