HU AWARDED $1.1 MILLION
TO REDUCE HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG MINORITIES

Hampton, VA - The Hampton University School of Nursing was recently awarded $1,113,539 from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) to develop the Hampton Penn Center for Reducing Health Disparities. The purpose of this grant is to narrow the gap in health disparities by capitalizing on and extending an existing partnership between the Hampton University School of Nursing and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

The Hampton Penn Center for Reducing Health Disparities will foster development of nursing partnerships and health disparity research between researchers, faculty, and students at Hampton University and the University of Pennsylvania. The Center will also further the development and dissemination of culturally competent research and interventions related to health disparities among racial/ethnic minorities, marginalized and underserved populations, and enhance the recruitment, retention and training of professional nurses and nurse researchers who are themselves members of racial/ethnic minorities.

"While the overall health of the nation has improved in the last 20 years the burden of illness and death experienced by racial and ethnic minorities continues to rise" said Dr. Bertha L. Davis, assistant dean for research at the HU School of Nursing and the project director. "This new center will study strategies needed to close the divide by reducing and eliminating those disparities that currently exist among American citizens of different ethnic and racial origins. The shorter life expectancies, higher rates of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, infant mortality, birth defects, strokes, sexually transmitted diseases and mental illness prompted the NINR to provide resources to study these issues."

Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and Hampton University have enjoyed almost a decade of collaboration and are uniquely poised to build on past relationships in meeting the aims of this project. Building on previous research in which culturally appropriate interventions have been designed to promote health and reduce the risk of disease in minority populations, the Hampton Penn Center for Reducing Health Disparities will focus on conducting culturally competent research on health promotion and disease prevention and the influence that culture, race and ethnicity exert within the client-system, healthcare-system, and the larger society that impact on health and illness.