KSU professors get grant to study health disparities

Low-income black men with chronic conditions targeted.

Three professors at Kennesaw State University have been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant to study health disparities in a particular group of men in Georgia.

The $404,000, three-year grant will allow Evelina Ster- ling, assistant professor of sociology, and associate professors of social work Carol Collard and Vanessa Robinson-Dooley to come up with a support and self-management program that would serve low-income black men with chronic conditions. Sterling said the goal is to see how race, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status can impact a person’s ability to manage diseases and conditions.

“I knew it was the perfect opportunity to bring this research to Kennesaw State because NIH had a specific funding opportunity on self-management, and probably not many schools would focus on such a specific niche,” she said of the grant.

During the first year of the initiative, focus groups will be held with participants to outline challenges they face in addressing conditions. The second year will involve the creation of Healthy Together, a support and management program created by the professors based on interviews with participants. For the third and final year, the professors will focus on implementing the program and evaluating their work. Robinson-Dooley said she and her colleagues are excited about the grant and the program because “people already innately have the coping mechanisms to manage their health more effectively.”

ROB C. WITZEL / KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY Kennesaw State University researchers Vanessa Robinson-Dooley (from left), Evelina Sterling and Carol Collard have been awarded a rare NIH grant to study health disparities in low-income black men.