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Icon for: Crystal James

CRYSTAL JAMES

Tuskegee University

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY COVID19 AWARE PROGRAM

NSF Awards: 2027923

2021 (see original presentation & discussion)

Informal / multi-age, All Age Groups

Because of the ever-evolving nature of COVID-19 information and need for nationwide response to known preventive methods, there is an urgent need for all communities including underrepresented minorities to trust and implement these prevention and containment methods. This project will be focused on understanding the effects of 1) disease prevention messages during epidemic and pandemic outbreaks; and 2) how minority communities’ access and attend to these messages. This project will implement culturally sensitive tools and materials, that promote disease prevention. Based on the successful outcome of this research project the disease prevention strategies developed can be institutionalized by federal, state, and local agencies, as well as data may be gathered on trust and trustworthiness in minority communities regionally. These findings have the capacity to positively affect the diversity of materials and decrease the levels of mistrust within minority communities across the deep south. Results from this project will be disseminated in journals and at conferences. Materials produced by the project will be made available to practitioners and other researchers. Students will be trained as part of this project.The objective of this proposal is to determine the best ways of disseminating disease prevention messages to minority communities, specifically Rural African Americans and other vulnerable populations. The central hypothesis is that minorities have mistrust and concerns regarding trustworthiness that therefore often delay innovators to disease prevention methods. Thus, magnifying and/or delaying efforts to reduce and forestall increase morbidity and mortality among the study population.

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Discussion from the 2021 STEM For All Video Showcase (29 posts)
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 10, 2021 | 03:07 p.m.

    We are so excited to share information with you about the COVID Aware Program at Tuskegee University.  I hope you enjoy the presentation and will consider voting for it to receive the public choice award.  If you would like to assist us in collecting more data for this important research project please read the following and click the link below to participate:

    Adults 18 years of age and older are welcome to complete this online (Qualtrics based) survey. We appreciate the difficulty of uncertain times and hope to capture aspects of this pandemic through our questionnaire. The information you provide will be confidential, and any data reported will be anonymous. The findings of this research we anticipate will help us have a better understanding of how African Americans and other marginalized communities adhere to, attend to and adapt to health education and communication during a pandemic. 

    If you are willing to complete this survey, simply use the anonymous link below.

    https://tuskegeepublichealth.iad1.qualtrics.com...

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Jacob Sagrans
    Cristo Leon
  • Icon for: Cristo Leon

    Cristo Leon

    Director of research, College of Science and Liberal Arts
    May 13, 2021 | 01:26 p.m.

    Dear Crystal,

     

    I just completed the survey I will be really interested in obtaining the analysis of its results 

     
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    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Crystal James
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 17, 2021 | 12:33 p.m.

    Hi Cristo,

    Thank you for your comment and your interest in our program.  You may contact me at cjames@tuskegee.edu or Dr. Melvena Wilson who serves as the Program Director at mwilson@tuskegee.edu to get on our list for distribution of findings.

  • Icon for: Chip Bruce

    Chip Bruce

    Facilitator
    Professor Emeritus
    May 11, 2021 | 07:23 a.m.

    This is an important project from perspectives of science, education, history, public policy and more. I was immediately drawn to it. James Jones's Bad Blood was my first detailed introduction to the syphilis study. I published a review of it then and have been concerned with the broader issues ever since. It's certainly timely now, with covid, and other health challenges.

    Is it premature to say more regarding insights you've gained from the survey thus far? 

     
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    Crystal James
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 09:48 a.m.

    Thank you so much for your comment and interest in our program.  We are analyzing preliminary data and will have some quantitative and qualitative data available very soon.

  • Icon for: Pendred Noyce

    Pendred Noyce

    Founder and Executive Director
    May 11, 2021 | 08:34 a.m.

    This is an important and vexing issue from the public health perspective. What is the timeline of your project, given the uncertainties of how long the pandemic will last and how long persuadable people will be still considering whether to receive the vaccine?

    I wrote about the Syphilis Study in one of the chapters of a book, The Case of the Covid Crisis, which is part of our project on teaching data science to middle school students (#1984). Clearly the matter of trust in government is key to controlling epidemics, whether it's Ebola or measles or COVID, and it's one of the themes of our project, especially when looking at racial disparities in COVID's effect on communities. At the end of our project, kids are supposed to make Public Service Announcements, based on data, for their own communities, so we'd love to hear more about your findings. Come visit! We would love to hear about principles of effective communication with mistrustful groups and individuals.

     
    1
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    Jacob Sagrans
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 09:50 a.m.

    Thank you so much for your comment.  We are currently planning to conclude the project in May 2022.  However, we hope to be able to add more states and look at changing trends beyond that timeline.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Jacob Sagrans
  • Icon for: Nancy Staus

    Nancy Staus

    Facilitator
    Senior Researcher, STEM Education
    May 11, 2021 | 10:57 a.m.

    This is such important and timely work! What has been your recruitment strategy to include as many voices as possible, particularly those in minoritized and rural communities, to inform your results?

  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 01:37 p.m.

    Thank you so much for your comment.  We partnered with local community organizations as well as Black Ladies in Public Health (national organization of public health workers: https://bliph.org) to assist us in reaching marginalized and rural communities.

     
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    Shihadah Saleem
  • Icon for: Shihadah Saleem

    Shihadah Saleem

    Facilitator
    Sr. Manager of Youth Leadership and Alumni Programs
    May 11, 2021 | 11:09 a.m.

    A much needed study, that warrants so much attention and reaction. How can the results of your study lead to direct impacts of building trust within these communities? Are there efforts towards the creation of groups of collectives/collaboratives with social scientists, doctors, elected officials, community members, etc. to hold additional focus groups, town halls, and more?

  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 01:41 p.m.

    Thank you so much for your comment and interest in our program.The one objective of this program is to determine the best ways of disseminating disease prevention messages to minority communities, specifically Rural African Americans and other vulnerable populations.  We are partnering with sister HBCUs to facilitate structured interviews and focus group sessions.  I would love to discuss additional ideas that you may have to amplify the message get more participation.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Shihadah Saleem
  • Icon for: Shihadah Saleem

    Shihadah Saleem

    Facilitator
    Sr. Manager of Youth Leadership and Alumni Programs
    May 11, 2021 | 09:27 p.m.

    Hi Crystal, thank you for your response. I love the idea of working with HBCUs, as they can be great assets within many rural communities. Inviting such vulnerable communities on campus, in classroom to engage in authentic dialogue is a great first step.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Crystal James
  • Icon for: Rosalind Cook

    Rosalind Cook

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 01:09 p.m.

    You are doing a great job with your video of getting the word out. I'm going to click on the link right now and do the survey.

    This topic will continue to resonate and be relevant. I hope you get useful results that help find ways to reach and build trust in under served communities.

     
    2
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Crystal James
    Shihadah Saleem
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 02:40 p.m.

    Thank you so much for your comment and for completing the survey!

  • Icon for: John Coleman

    John Coleman

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 02:36 p.m.

    I am heartened to see this kind of project presented here at this Showcase. The problem that you are addressing affects so many throughout our African American communities.  I, for one, will be looking forward to your suggestions for effective dissemination of your findings. I hope that they can be inculcated into a community strategy that will be ongoing;  our communities desperately need it. Thank you for taking  on this project.

     
    2
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Crystal James
    Shihadah Saleem
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 11, 2021 | 02:42 p.m.

    Thank you for your thoughtful comment.  We hope to amplify the findings on multiple platforms and specifically to leading health agencies who seek to create trustworthy health messages.

  • Anthony McCloud

    Higher Ed Administrator
    May 11, 2021 | 04:47 p.m.

    A very worthwhile study! Thank you for sharing Attorney James.

  • Renee MPH

    Researcher
    May 11, 2021 | 08:55 p.m.

    Thank you for an excellent presentation about the value of creating and disseminating accurate public health messaging that is especially valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keep up the great work at Tuskegee University.

  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 13, 2021 | 05:16 p.m.

    Thank you so much for your comment and your support of the program.

  • Icon for: Rebecca Bullard-Dillard

    Rebecca Bullard-Dillard

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 12, 2021 | 11:39 a.m.

     I do not know if it is possible to contact those who leave comments on your work once the showcase ends, but if so, I would love to be notified when the results of your study are published.

  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 12, 2021 | 01:52 p.m.

    Thank you for your comment and your interest in our program.  You may contact me at cjames@tuskegee.edu or Dr. Melvena Wilson who serves as the Program Director at mwilson@tuskegee.edu to get on our list for distribution of findings.

  • Icon for: Chip Bruce

    Chip Bruce

    Facilitator
    Professor Emeritus
    May 12, 2021 | 03:51 p.m.

    It's obvious that your project generates high interest and rich discussion, making it a success already.

    It's a total coincidence, but we're just now passing through NW Alabama (on the Natchez Trace) on a big circle trip to see family. I hope that someday I can return for a longer visit, including Tuskegee!

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Crystal James
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 13, 2021 | 05:16 p.m.

    Tuskegee University and the City of Tuskegee  are both beautiful and historical places.  You should definitely visit when you have the opportunity.

  • Icon for: Shihadah Saleem

    Shihadah Saleem

    Facilitator
    Sr. Manager of Youth Leadership and Alumni Programs
    May 12, 2021 | 07:48 p.m.

    Hi Crystal, such important work. Not only a cultural mindset, but a systemic shift in mindset. I'm interested to know how/if the results of data shared can impact the wider medical community in upholding their responsibilities towards dismantling abuse, bias, and harm in BIPOC communities, especially African American men and women. What do you think should be the next steps in the "long game"?

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Crystal James
  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 14, 2021 | 10:45 a.m.

    I believe trustworthiness is requirement to be established and maintained by health and public health entities.  The long game strategy has to included continued engagement not just in the time of emergencies.

     
    1
    Discussion is closed. Upvoting is no longer available

    Shihadah Saleem
  • Icon for: Susan Warshaw

    Susan Warshaw

    External Evaluator
    May 14, 2021 | 12:07 p.m.

    This is important work and  should  continue beyond the pandemic.

  • George Clark

    May 14, 2021 | 03:59 p.m.

    Great job Crystal! Proud to know you as a long time friend!

  • Icon for: Laura w Martin

    Laura w Martin

    Researcher
    May 14, 2021 | 04:01 p.m.

    I'll be very interested in your results.  Our project, COVID-inspired data science for youth, will ask middle school kids in underrepresented communities to think up data-based messages for various audiences. It will be interesting to compare results! 

  • Icon for: Crystal James

    Crystal James

    Lead Presenter
    Dept. Head/ Assoc. Faculty
    May 16, 2021 | 02:46 p.m.

    I agree and look forward to the collaboration.

  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.