Delta Mississippi Center of Excellence in Maternal Health - PROJECT SUMMARY: OVERALL ABSTRACT: Maternal mortality in the United States is higher than in peer nations and has not decreased since 1990. Beyond mortality, severe maternal morbidity impacts far too many women. Not only are these high rates alarming, but notable racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities exist. These disparities are highly regional, with women living in the rural southeast part of the United States, including the Mississippi Delta, having the highest rates of maternal mortality and morbidity. Unfortunately, these disparities have proven to be stubbornly resistant to interventions, necessitating an innovative multifaceted approach focused on community practice, building trust, and prioritizing patient voices. To meet this need, this proposal aims to establish the JSU- Mississippi Delta Research Center of Excellence for Maternal Health with the goal of addressing preventable maternal mortality, decreasing severe maternal morbidity, and promoting improvements in maternal health through partnership with the Mississippi Delta community. This research center will conduct two multi-layered research projects. Research Project 1 will determine the effectiveness of an evidenced-based community health worker home visiting program grounded in extensive patient and community participation. Research Project 2 will evaluate the effectiveness of a multilevel and multisectoral communication and health literacy strategy to increase trust and engagement in postpartum healthcare among women in the Mississippi Delta, their families, and their communities. These research projects both have the overarching goal of partnering with the community to determine and meet the needs of pregnant and postpartum women in the Mississippi Delta and address the disparities within maternity care. Supporting the goals of the research projects, an extensive research training program for early-stage investigators, utilizing community health partners, will address the factors that affect maternal outcomes. Our Community Partnership Component will ensure a successful, sustained, collaborative working environment throughout the center with the goal of establishing meaningful and sustainable community partnerships throughout the research development process and training. To achieve these objectives, we have brought together an experienced team with diverse expertise and perspectives, combining knowledge and resources from Jackson State University, the Mississippi State Department of Health, Six Dimensions (a Mississippi community-based public health consulting company), the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and various community partners.
