AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--findhelp, the nation’s leading social care network, announced a new research collaboration with Nashville’s Meharry Medical College’s Center for the Study of Social Determinants of Health (CSSDoH), as part of a consortium of top research centers to transform chronic health disparities that disproportionately overburden ethnic and racial minority communities. Nearly 100 community health centers across the southeast U.S. will contribute to the study, which will explore how addressing social needs, such as housing, food, and childcare can impact smoking addiction and bolster quit rates.
Funded by a grant from the National Institute for Health (NIH), the Center for the Study of Social Determinants of Health at Meharry will soon launch a longitudinal clinical study on the effectiveness of the smoking cessation mHealth application, QuitBuddy, in underserved populations. The study will evaluate outcomes data from over 2000 adult smokers to explore how digital tools impact the struggles people face while quitting smoking and in recovery post relapse.
As Meharry faculty recently noted in an article contributed to Scientific American, “recognizing and addressing the distinct needs and challenges of African Americans seeking to quit smoking is essential for improving their quit rates.” Despite similar rates of smoking prevalence, African Americans have higher mortality rates associated with smoking, including lower cancer survival rates, than white Americans, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Understanding the unique challenges that African American and other minorities face will be a key component in reducing racial disparities in various health outcomes and optimizing health equity.
“We are excited to expand our contribution to the medical research community alongside Meharry Medical College,” says Erine Gray, founder & CEO of findhelp. “We are firm believers in using data to make strategic decisions. We’re proud to support this important work to improve smoking cessation interventions to help people live healthier, safer lives.”
“We chose findhelp because of their robust capabilities and broad reach that helps us meet community needs and enhance access to a range of services to accelerate health equity in our communities ,” says Principal Investigator Dr. Bryan Heckman, Director of the Center for the Study of Social Determinants of Health at Meharry . “Smoking is a public health issue that disproportionately impacts underserved communities. This study will help us better understand the root causes so we can continue creating a path to health equity for all.”
The research collaboration between the two organizations hopes to set the standard for assessing the impact of addressing social needs on smoking cessation and pave the way for policymakers to include SDoH resources to support people seeking smoking addiction support in their communities.
For more information on findhelp, please visit https://company.findhelp.com/.
About findhelp
findhelp is the nation’s leading social care network, making it easy for customers in a wide range of industries to integrate social care into the work they already do—from education and government to housing, healthcare, and more. Through customer platforms and our public site, findhelp.org, the findhelp network reaches more than 9 million users across the country, making it easy to connect people seeking help and the verified social care providers that serve them, with dignity and ease.
About the CSSDoH
Since Meharry Medical College's inception, the mission has been to level health inequities and improve the health and health care programs of minority and underserved communities. Meharry Medical College established The Center for the Study of Social Determinants of Health in 2019 to further Meharry's mission of serving the underserved. CSSDoH's vision is to empower communities through research and outreach programs focused on health, wellness, and science. To learn more about the Center's research, initiatives, and its business incubator, ResilienSeed, please visit: www.sdoh.center.
About Meharry Medical College
Meharry Medical College, founded in 1876, is the nation's largest private, independent historically Black academic health sciences center dedicated to educating minority and other health professionals. True to its heritage, it is a United Methodist Church-related institution. The College is particularly well known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; emerging preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based health services and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation’s health professions workforce. Meharry is a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences. Visit https://home.mmc.edu/ to learn more.
