Prevalence of obesity among adults continues to grow throughout the U.S., and nowhere is that more true than in Mississippi. Obesity is associated with a range of diseases and is estimated to increase U.S. healthcare spending by $170 billion annually.
Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service and its partners are proposing to expand its current work to address obesity and its associated factors in 14 Mississippi counties with adult obesity prevalence of greater than 40%. Of Mississippi’s 82 counties, 54 (66%) are eligible for the HOP Program, the highest percentage of any state in the U.S. The project, “Advancing, Inspiring, and Motivating for Community Health through Extension” (referred to as AIM for Change-2), will target the counties of Bolivar, Chickasaw, Claiborne, Clay, Holmes, Humphries, Issaquena, Kemper, Noxubee, Sharkey, Sunflower, Washington, Webster, and Yazoo. All of these counties are rural and have higher percentages of poverty than national averages.
The purpose of the proposed AIM for Change-2 Project is to promote health equity by effectively addressing obesity and its associated factors in 14 Mississippi counties by (1) identifying and mapping local assets and opportunities within each county for enhancing food systems and nutrition-related challenges; (2) addressing county-specific factors impacting physical activity; and (3) implementing programs related to family healthy weight. Its focus will be on reaching and supporting the targeted counties’ communities of color to reduce racial health disparities.
AIM for Change-2 will collaborate and coordinate its work with existing and future CDC-funded programs that complement its work, including Mississippi’s State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) Program, headquartered in the Mississippi State Department of Health, and the Mississippi Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Communities Program (REACH) Program, headquartered in the Mississippi Public Health Institute. These programs have agreed to retain the services of the Mississippi Public Health Association to serve as an independent convener of the SPAN, REACH, and AIM for Change-2 teams, and to launch working together with a collaborative health equity summit.
Additionally, AIM for Change-2 will collaborate with AARP of Mississippi; Alcorn State University; Double Up Food Bucks of Mississippi; Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce; Mississippi Department of Transportation; Mississippi Food Network; Mississippi Medicaid; Mississippi’s SNAP-ED and EFNEP programs, which operate through MSU Extension; Tougaloo College; Tufts University; UMMC, and others. Several of these organizations will be represented on the AIM Advisory Board.
AIM for Change-2 will work closely with Extension agents and their respective County Advisory Councils (CACs). These CACs typically involve multiple sectors of the community that come together to address community needs and solve community problems that one person or organization could not do alone.
AIM for Change-2 will also utilize Resource Roundtables for sharing data, decision-making about geographic areas of focus, and collaborative decision-making. Local Project Investments (LPIs) will be awarded to communities based on needs and opportunities identified through initial asset mapping efforts. As data are collected and assimilated, project team leaders will collaborate with the CACs to identify LPIs that will yield the optimal opportunity for returns on the investment.
This project will serve as an example of the future of public health in Mississippi, moving the state toward a seamless model of service delivery at the community level. AIM for Change-2 will support the CACs in the initial 14 counties and expand to additional counties in Years 2-5, using a similar community-driven approach to intervention identification and implementation.
