Delta Better Futures: A Community-Based Collaborative to Advance Equity in Adolescent Health in the Mississippi Delta - The Delta Better Futures collaborative has been created to advance equity in adolescent health through the replication of evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs (EBPs) and services in three different settings: public schools, faith-based locations, and community settings. Our goal is to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes, promote positive youth development, and advance health equity for adolescents, their families, and communities in eight rural, minority, low-income counties of the Mississippi Delta. Our target population includes residents of the rural counties of Bolivar, Coahoma, Holmes, Humphreys, Leflore, Sunflower, Washington and Yazoo, Mississippi who have historically suffered from poor disparities in both health access and health outcomes. Our service area is home to a weighted average of 71.4% Black or African American residents as compared to 13.6% nationwide, putting our communities at higher risk for health disparities. Only 79.4% of our adults have a high school degree as compared to 88.9% nationwide and 33.9% of our residents live in poverty compared to 11.6% nationwide. In 2020, our area had an average teen birth rate of 36.1 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19, more than double the nationwide of 16.7 per 1,000 females ages 15-19. Furthermore, the 2020 teen birth rate for females ages 10-14 in our communities was 0.3 births for every 1,000 compared to the nation’s birth rate of 0.2 births per 1,000. Rates of sexually transmitted infections in our region are similarly troubling. Our eight counties have an average gonorrhea rate of 628.5 per 100,000 residents, more than triple the U.S. rate of 206.5 per 100,000, an average chlamydia rate of 1,476.0 per 100,000 residents, compared to the U.S. rate of 481.3 per 100,000, and an average primary and secondary rate of syphilis of 25.5 per 100,000 compared to the U.S. rate of 12.7 per 100,000. The HIV rate in our region is 20.9 per 100,000 residents, more than double the rate of 9.2 per 100,000 seen nationwide. The first three months of this collaborative will be utilized to establish a Community Advisory Group who will work with representatives of our three existing rural Youth Councils to engage with public schools, faith-based partners, and community agencies to identify and prioritize their needs with respect to adolescent health, and to finalize the selection of inclusive and equitable EBPs that will be implemented within each defined location and target audience. This effort builds upon our previous success with teen pregnancy prevention programs in some of these locations, expanding services to new counties and new audiences, serving a minimum of 3,500 adolescents per year over a five-year period. Members of the collaborative include Delta Health Alliance - Mississippi's largest community based non-profit agency, ten rural public-school districts, a consortium of faith-based leaders, a FQHC-look alike clinic and six community services or business associations which will provide linkages to youth friendly healthcare and social services. Since 2001, DHA has pursued its mission to improve the health of the men, women, and children who make the Mississippi Delta their home which aligns with the goal of this project: Improving sexual and reproductive health outcomes, promoting positive youth development, and advancing health equity for adolescents, their families and communities.
