Grantee Research Project Results
2012 Progress Report: Environmental Health Disparities Research in NOCEMHD
EPA Grant Number: NIMHD008Title: Environmental Health Disparities Research in NOCEMHD
Investigators: Link, Bruce , Luchsinger, José A , March, Dana , Teresi, Jeanne
Current Investigators: Luchsinger, José A , Link, Bruce , March, Dana , Teresi, Jeanne
Institution: Columbia University Medical Center
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: August 1, 2011 through July 31, 2014
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 22, 2011 through September 21,2012
Project Amount: $850,638
RFA: Transdisciplinary Networks of Excellence on the Environment and Health Disparities (2012) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice , Human Health
Objective:
The objectives of this project are to: (1) examine the contribution of multilevel health disparities environmental factors (HDEF) to diabetes and depression in a prospective cohort study, the Northern Manhattan Study of Metabolism and Mental Health (NOMEM); and (2) examine whether and how multilevel HDEF modify the response to community-based interventions in three randomized controlled trials—The Northern Manhattan Community Outreach Project (NOCHOP), The Northern Manhattan Caregiver Intervention Project (NOCIP), and The Counseling Adults to Control Hypertension Study (COACH).
These projects are component projects of the Northern Manhattan Center of Excellence for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NOCEMHD) at Columbia University.
Progress Summary:
The Contextual Health Disparities Core (COHD) is fully constituted. Dana March, Ph.D., who is primarily responsible for the logistics of the environmental questionnaires, arrived at Columbia from NIH on 03/01/12. Her office is located in the NOCEMHD wing, next to Dr. Luchsinger's office. She was engaged in the setup of the study since the fall of 2011. The study setup period has ended. All questionnaires were professionally translated to Spanish. We have obtained IRB approvals as modifications of the existing four projects described in the application (NOCHOP, NOCIP, COACH, NOMEM). The Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) has been set up between Dr. March and our Data Coordinating Center at the Hebrew Home, and uploaded on several notebook computers. The CAPI has been piloted already, and 8 bilingual interviewers have received a total of 15 hours of training in two sessions. One of the bilingual interviewers was hired in November of 2011 for this particular project. The others are existing staff in NOCHOP, NOCIP, COACH, and NOMEM. All data collection procedures (recruitment, interviews, subject payments/petty cash, secure data transfer, regular geocoding of anonymized residential addresses, and weekly staff meetings) were formalized and instituted. Interviews of NOCHOP participants have begun. Dr. March began the linking of geocoding and census track information to existing study information. The CAPI programs with the environmental questionnaires in English and Spanish are now available for future projects at our center and available to collaborators.
Our project will allow us to examine the influence of contextual variables on the outcomes of clinical trials in NOCHOP, NOCIP, and COACH. It will also allow the examination of the interaction of the environment with metabolic and mental health disorders in NOMEM.
Future Activities:
We expect that data collection in NOCHOP and COACH will finish by September of 2012. Data Collection in NOMEM and NOCIP will finish by December 2012. Drs. March, Link, and Luchsinger are currently writing a review and hypothesis paper on the influence of environmental contextual factors as modifiers of community-based interventions.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 7 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Epidemiology, modification of intervention response, health disparitiesRelevant Websites:
Northern Manhattan Center of Excellence for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NOCEMHD) website:http://www.nocemhd.cumc.columbia.edu/index.html Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.