Mississippi Residents Research Articles

Community Resilience Project: An Exploration of Emergency Weather Preparedness in Mississippi

Historically Black Colleges and Universities have often been at the forefront of emerging movements and social changes. Continuing this tradition Jackson State University has developed Community Resilience Project to address community issues relevant to both the city and the state. The first undertaking of the Community Resilience Project was partnering with the National Weather Service (NWS and several departments across Jackson State University (JSU) to examine awareness and preparedness about weather emergencies. In June 2020, the Community Resilience Project hosted a town hall to gauge residents’ awareness about weather emergencies. Tornados, hurricanes, and floods are common in Mississippi; therefore, individuals must be prepared. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze demographics to develop themes regarding weather emergencies. The participants were 87 Mississippi residents. Participants were issued the demographic survey before the town hall. Frequency analyses were conducted on the responses found several themes. Most respondents, 59.8%, feel prepared for a weather emergency, however, 51.7% denied having an emergency preparedness plan. Participants were also asked do they felt prepared for an emergency since the pandemic began. Most respondents reported the same or increased levels of preparedness. Findings showcase the importance of not only the Community Resilience Project but also the need for community collaborations. The strength of a community is quantified by its ability to build and maintain bonds for all its citizens' well-being and advancement. Jackson State’s Community Resilience Project has taken an inimitable role in providing services, resources, and support to its local and state communities.

Barriers to Preferred Contraception Use in Mississippi.

Introduction: Many Americans are not using the contraceptive method they prefer, but there has been limited study of how this may be related to health system barriers. We evaluated how such barriers to contraceptive care are related to unmet contraceptive preference in Mississippi and which contraceptive methods are preferred by those who report an unmet preference. Materials and Methods: Between September 2020 and February 2021, we used social media advertisements to recruit Mississippi residents 18-45 years of age, who were assigned female at birth, for an online survey. We asked respondents if they wanted to use a different contraceptive method or start using one, and if so, which method they preferred. We assessed barriers in the reproductive healthcare services environment (e.g., long wait for appointments, unaffordability or lack of insurance acceptance). We used multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression models to test the relationship between experiencing one or more barriers to reproductive healthcare and having an unmet contraceptive preference. Results: Among 462 eligible respondents, 37% had an unmet contraceptive preference. Most respondents (83%) reported one or more barriers to accessing office-based reproductive healthcare. Respondents who experienced a barrier had almost twice the prevalence of unmet preference as people who experienced no barrier (prevalence ratio 1.81, 95% confidence interval: 1.14-2.86). Among respondents with unmet preference, short-acting hormonal, long-acting reversible, and permanent methods were most desired. Conclusion: We find that nearly two-fifths of reproductive-aged Mississippians with capacity for pregnancy are not using their preferred contraceptive method. Structural barriers to care are very common and are significantly associated with experiencing unmet contraceptive preference, undermining reproductive autonomy.

Cardiovascular and renal physiological impacts seen in blood tests of flu diagnosed patients

Early detection of influenza virus infection can potentially reduce risk of morbidity, mortality, and virus transmission through earlier intervention strategies. Although seasonal influenza is a localized respiratory viral infection, changes in cardiovascular physiology and inflammatory biomarkers have been previously observed by our group in mice during influenza infection. Distinguishing patterns among common blood panels, including complete blood count, basic metabolic, comprehensive metabolic, coagulation panel, and c-reactive protein, could lead to earlier diagnosis and better prognosis of symptomatic carriers, but also be useful to diagnose asymptomatic carriers of the virus and provide better infectious disease surveillance. The objective of this study was to utilize the University of Mississippi Medical’s extensive clinical database (EPIC) to investigate the potential association between common blood tests with patients diagnosed with influenza from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2022. Diagnosed patients were identified from over 1 million patients (of a total population of 3 million) and 36 million encounters of Mississippi residents from the electronic health record Data from patients with reported demographic dimensions (age, first race, and sex), offce visit dimensions (BMI, diastolic blood pressure (BP), pulse rate, respiration rate, systolic BP, and temperature), and common blood test values were obtained for 1896 influenza diagnosed patients, including day of diagnosis and additional encounter visits within 60 days before and after first unique influenza diagnosis. Overall, at day of influenza diagnosis, we see an increase in red blood cell (RBC) count, white blood cell (WBC) count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), prothrombin time (PT), and c-reactive protein (CRP) and a decrease in platelets, calcium, glucose, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, chloride, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, albumin, and alkaline phosphatase (AST). Yet, at the sex-specific level, there were differences; females have an increase in glucose, BUN, and creatinine, while males have an increase in albumin and ALP. Multivariate analyses of patients with complete data for 18 blood tests and binned by month relative to the day of diagnosis confirm distinct differences on the day of diagnosis. Future analysis will reveal which blood tests contribute to overall change on the day of diagnosis. Our findings show both changes in cardiovascular and renal physiology during influenza infection and the need to assess these blood measurements during influenza virus infection studies in mice. NIH/NIGMS — 1P20GM144041-01A1 5334 Host-pathogen molecular and cardiovascular interaction during influenza infection. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Abstract P381: Geographic Variation in Financial Strain and Food Insecurity After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Cardiovascular Health Equity

Reduced food security is associated with higher healthcare expenditures and increased risk of coronary heart disease, angina, heart attacks, and hypertension. State-level responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and support policies may contribute to regional differences in financial strain and food insecurity, which could have implications for cardiovascular outcomes. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that there is geographic variation in financial strain and food insecurity in the United States three years after the start of the pandemic. Methods: This study utilizes weighted data from the U. S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey Phase 3.10 conducted from August 23 - September 4, 2023. We organized data responses according to the Department of Health and Human Services regions - Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle. Food insecurity was measured using a single survey item about having sufficient food to eat in the last 7 days. Financial strain was defined as difficulty paying expenses in the last seven days. Results: There were 254,966,752 adults in the total sample population, (59%) reported difficulty with expenses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Atlanta region reported the most financial strain (13%), while the Denver region reported the least (2%), p-value=0.000. The rate of food insecurity was highest in the Atlanta region at 8% compared with 5% or less in other regions, p-value=0.000. Among the 8 states in the Atlanta region, Black individuals were disproportionately more likely to be food insecure, with the greatest difference for Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, and South Carolina. All states in the Atlanta region had similar odds of food insecurity, but Mississippi residents were nearly twice as likely to experience food insecurity than residents of other states (OR 1.87, p =0.016). Conclusions: The Atlanta region (i.e., the “Deep South”) consists of the most populous states for non-Hispanic Black people and is experiencing the worst food insecurity and financial strain post-pandemic. The economic toll of the pandemic and post-pandemic inflation may contribute to worsening food insecurity and cardiovascular outcomes in a region that is already burdened by poor cardiovascular health. Multilevel intervention is needed to support full pandemic recovery and avoid exacerbating inequities in cardiovascular disease.

Trust and Biomedical Research Engagement of Minority and Under-Represented Communities in Mississippi, USA.

Trust is critical to the development and maintenance of effective research collaborations and community engagement. The purpose of this study was to assess the current attitudes and level of trust pertaining to health research among residents of Central Mississippi, the priority health region for the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Center for Health Disparities Research (RCHDR) at Jackson State University. The cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2021 to April 2022. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics carried out by SPSS statistical software. A total of 146 participants responded to the survey. The participants were predominately African American (99%) and female (75%). Historical research studies, the researchers' qualities, and potential benefits from participation were factors affecting the level of trust in the research process. Ninety percent (n = 131) expressed that it was important to be involved in the research process, and 98.5% (n = 144) agreed that discussing the research findings with the participants was important for establishing trust in the research process. While trust in the research process does not guarantee participation, trust is a precursor for those who decide to engage in health disparities research. Key findings will be integrated into the RCHDR research agenda to foster further development and implementation of innovative community-based participatory research toward the control and/or prevention of diseases that disproportionately affect minority and under-represented populations in Mississippi.

P072Preferred contraceptive use and barriers to care in mississippi

<h3>Objectives</h3> To evaluate preferred contraceptive use and barriers to contraceptive care among Mississippi residents. <h3>Methods</h3> We recruited Mississippi residents for an online survey about contraceptive use and access to reproductive healthcare using social media advertisements. Eligible participants were people assigned female at birth, aged 18–45, and not pregnant or desiring pregnancy. Among respondents who had sexual intercourse with a man in the past year, we assessed the percentage who would use a different method if they could get it at no cost and who reported barriers getting contraception, including inconvenient clinic hours and difficulty paying for services. We assessed the association between reporting at least one barrier to care and preference to use a different method using multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression with robust standard errors. <h3>Results</h3> Of 457 respondents, 93% were using contraception and 37% would change methods if they could do so for no cost. Overall, 82% reported at least one barrier to contraceptive care, the most common being difficulty paying for services (41%) and inconvenient clinic hours (36%). In multivariable-adjusted Poisson regression (PR), respondents were more likely to prefer a different method if they reported at least one barrier to care (PR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.27–3.13) or were using less-effective or no (vs. highly effective) contraception (PR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.33–2.12). <h3>Conclusions</h3> A majority of reproductive-aged Mississippi residents experience barriers to care, and one-third want to change contraceptive methods. Reducing barriers to preferred method use is essential for supporting Mississippi residents' reproductive autonomy, especially as abortion access decreases.

Use of a contraceptive decision support tool in the abortion care setting

ObjectiveTo evaluate the use of a contraceptive decision support tool in the abortion care setting. Study designIn 2019, Mississippi residents aged 18 to 45 used a tablet-based decision support tool at the consultation visit and completed a survey about their satisfaction with the tool. ResultsAmong the 325 participants, the majority found the tool “very helpful” for method decision-making (86%) and considered the amount of information provided to be “just right” (95%). Nearly all (98%) reported it was acceptable to get contraception information at their visit. ConclusionsDecision support tools are a promising, person-centered strategy to support postabortion contraceptive information needs.

Abortion at 12 or more weeks’ gestation and travel for later abortion care among Mississippi residents

ObjectiveTo assess the association between indicators of economic disadvantage and geographic accessibility of reproductive health services and abortions ≥ 12 weeks’ gestation in Mississippi. Study DesignThis cross-sectional study used data on Mississippi residents who obtained abortion care from 12 of 14 facilities in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee in 2018. We estimated logistic regression models to assess the association between levels of county deprivation, the number of obstetrician and/or gynecologists per 10,000 women, and one way distance to the nearest facility with having an abortion ≥ 12 weeks’ gestation. We compared the median one-way distance to the facility where patients < 12 weeks’, 12-15 weeks’, and ≥ 16 weeks’ gestation received care, using Kruskal-Wallis tests. ResultsOf the 4,455 Mississippi residents who obtained abortions, 73% were Black, 59% lived ≥ 50 miles from a facility, and 60% obtained care in Mississippi. Overall, 764 (17.2%) abortions were performed ≥ 12 weeks’ gestation. In adjusted models, those in counties with moderate (OR, 1.47; 95% CI: 1.15-1.90) and high (OR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.01-1.83) (vs low) levels of economic deprivation and counties with 0.1-1.4 (vs ≥ 2.5) obstetrician/gynecologists per 10,000 women (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.06-2.27) had higher odds of obtaining an abortion ≥12 weeks’ gestation. Mississippi residents who obtained abortions ≥ 16 weeks’ gestation traveled a median 143 miles one way to the facility where they received care, compared to 69 miles and 60 miles traveled by those < 12 weeks’ and 12-15 weeks’ gestation, respectively (p < .001). ConclusionsMany Mississippi residents obtained abortion care ≥ 12 weeks’ gestation, which is related to greater economic constraints and limited geographic access to reproductive health services. ImplicationsPeople's need for abortions ≥ 12 weeks’ gestation may be higher in communities with limited access to reproductive health services and among those living in areas with greater economic disadvantage. State laws that narrow gestational limits would increase long-distance travel for later abortion care, and disproportionately affect those with fewer resources.

Social determinants of health related to stay-at-home order adherence and social distancing attitudes among a diverse Deep South population

ObjectiveTo describe COVID-19 related symptoms and medical care experienced in the first six months of the pandemic as well as stay-at-home order adherence, and attitudes related to COVID-19 risk and social distancing among a diverse sample of adults in the Deep South.MethodsSurvey data were collected from 411 Louisiana and Mississippi residents for three weeks in June 2020 through social media.ResultsOver half (52.5%) of participants who experienced COVID-19 related symptoms (with 41.5% experiencing at least one symptom) did not feel the severity of symptoms warranted seeking medical care. 91.6% of the Deep South adults visited certain places or did activities where visiting or gathering with other people was involved during stay-at-home mandates. Religiosity/spirituality, age, education, number of children in the home, attitudes related to COVID-19 risk of complications and social distancing were related to the greater/lesser likelihood of stay-at-home order adherence.ConclusionsVarious cultural and contextual factors were related to stay-at-home order adherence. Understanding how social values, life stage, socioeconomic, and geographic factors influence stay-at-home order adherence would lead to more effective policy design to improve population adherence.

Abstract P269: Influence Of Sex, Race, And Changes In Vital Signs In Covid-19 And Flu Diagnosed Patients In Mississippi

Early detection of viral infections, such as COVID-19 and flu, have the potential to reduce risk of morbidity, mortality, and disease transmission through earlier intervention strategies. Distinguishing patterns among vital signs, including body temperature, pulse rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure, can help to diagnose a potential respiratory virus more rapidly and accurately. The objective of this study was to utilize the University of Mississippi Medical’s extensive clinical database (EPIC) to investigate the potential association between temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, and respiration with influenza and COVID-19. COVID-19 (March 3, 2020 to February 27, 2021) and flu (October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018) diagnosed patients were identified from over 1 million patients (of a total population of 3 million) and 36 million encounters of Mississippi residents from the electronic health record. Data from patients with reported demographic dimensions (age, first race, and sex) and office visit dimensions (BMI, diastolic blood pressure (BP), pulse rate, respiration rate, systolic BP, and temperature) was obtained for 1,363 COVID-19 and 507 flu diagnosed patients, including day of diagnosis and additional encounter visits within 60 days before and after first unique viral disease diagnosis. Patients with COVID-19 or flu were disproportionately obese, with 93% of COVID-19 and 79% of flu patients with BMI ≥30. Most striking was that black women in 50-64 years disproportionately carried the burden of disease. For all patients at the time of infection, temperature was significantly increased for both respiratory viruses, pulse rate was significantly increased for flu, and BP was not significantly increased in either infection. We compared flu patients with no pre-existing diagnoses (n= 57) to those with essential (primary) hypertension (n= 234) and found significantly higher systolic BP at day of infection in flu only patients. Our findings show the need for more complete demographic and office visit dimension data from patients during epidemic and pandemic events.

The Food Factor: Relating Brand Viewership to Behavior and Behavioral Intention

Mississippi residents (n = 404) were surveyed to determine how The Food Factor brand viewership impacted their behavior and behavioral intention. The Food Factor is a weekly Extension mass media program that communicates research-based information about food, nutrition, and healthy lifestyles. A researcher-developed instrument was used to collect information about behavior and behavioral intent, as well as perceptions of The Food Factor using Qualtrics from a representative sample. Respondents were split into viewer and non-viewer categories. Viewers were asked about their viewing frequency and their nutrition-related behaviors and behavioral intention to create a behavioral score. Non-viewers were also asked about their nutrition-related behaviors and behavioral intention to compare to viewers. The majority of viewers’ results indicated they were casual viewers. On average, viewers had a slightly higher behavioral score than non-viewers. There was no statistically significant correlation between viewing frequency and viewers’ behavioral scores. Overall, it was uncertain if the brand had meaningful effects on viewers. Recommendations include future studies on the use of branding in social marketing programs and other mass media programs in other states, and further evaluation of The Food Factor brand.

Meet Me Where I Am: An Evaluation of an HIV Patient Navigation Intervention to Increase Uptake of PrEP Among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in the Deep South.

The southern region of the USA is the epicenter of the HIV epidemic. HIV disproportionately affects African Americans, particularly Black men who have sex with men (BlackMSM). Given the alarming rates of new infections among Black MSM, there is an urgent need for culturally competent healthcare professionals who are trained to address the unique needs and barriers to uptake and adherence to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. Utilizing amixed method researchapproach, we conducted a process evaluation of Meet Me Where I Am, a 6-month, 6-session HIV/AIDS patient navigation training program for healthcare professionals and patient navigators working in organizations that provide HIV services to residents of central Mississippi, an area with high incidence and prevalence rates of HIV. A self-administered questionnaire after each session was given to participants to assess the acceptability, quality, and translational aspects of the training program. The overall positive feedback on the MMWIA training reflects the program's acceptability and feasibility. Participants found that the training was effective in providing the necessary knowledge and skills to deliver patient-centered HIV prevention-related navigation services. A majority (67%) of participants indicated that they felt they could apply the lessons learned within their healthcare settings to improve access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. If we are to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in HIV/AIDS, there is a critical need for culturally appropriate training programs designed to improve the ability of healthcare professionals and health systems to deliver culturally competent HIV prevention, care, and treatment services.

Tornado warning awareness, information needs and the barriers to protective action of individuals who are blind

Individuals with disabilities are often vulnerable to the impacts of weather hazards, such as tornadoes. This is especially true in the Southeast where vulnerability to tornadoes is already heightened due to both physical and socioeconomic factors. To better understand and possibly reduce this vulnerability, we conducted interviews with 25 residents of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi who are legally blind. The goal of the interviews was to understand how people who are blind receive and respond to tornado warnings. Participants were asked to discuss the sources they use for severe weather information, their likes and dislikes about the current warning system, warning elements that allow them to personalize the risk, and barriers in their ability to obtain warning information, assess risk, or respond to it. Results suggest that good verbal description or the lack of detailed verbal description were of the greatest importance in our participants’ ability to effectively use warning information and act on it. This included audio for television warning crawls, and the level of description provided during severe weather coverage. Ample geographic description was important in their ability to personalize the threat. The greatest number of barriers were associated with the risk assessment phase; however, the single most common barrier mentioned by participants was that they would have no safe place to go during a tornado.

Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Mental Health among US Adults.

Objectives: Hurricane Katrina was an intense tropical cyclone that made landfall in the United States (US) in August 2005, causing catastrophic damage in several states. This study examined the impact of Hurricane Katrina on mental health status among US adults. Methods: Multilevel regressions based on the difference-in-differences study design were performed on individual-level data (N = 70,267) retrieved from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2004-2006 surveys. Results: Hurricane Katrina was found to be associated with an increase of 0.68 poor mental health days among residents of Katrina-affected states. The negative impact of Hurricane Katrina on mental health status tended to be larger among Louisiana residents, women, young and middle-aged adults, lower income respondents, and those with poor/fair self-rated physical health than among Mississippi residents, men, older adults, higher income respondents, and those with good/excellent self-rated physical health. Conclusion: Hurricane Katrina adversely impacted mental health of residents in Katrina-affected states, and the impact differed across population subgroups. Future studies should investigate other potential risk and protective factors for the mental health consequences of disasters. They should examine long-term impacts on mental health following disasters to better inform population-based mental health interventions for disaster survivors.

Mississippi Residents' Perceptions of Extension

A representative sample of Mississippi residents were asked about their knowledge and perceptions of the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service through an online questionnaire. About half of the respondents were aware of MSU Extension, but fewer than one fifth had used MSU Extension resources. Respondents who were aware of MSU Extension had generally positive perceptions of MSU Extension's characteristics and believed those characteristics to be important. Like previous empirical and anecdotal evidence, these results support continued characterization of Extension as a "best-kept secret." There is a clear need to improve awareness of Extension and the resources it makes available to the public

Trends in the Prevalence and Awareness of High Cholesterol among Adults in Mississippi, United States

Elevated level of blood cholesterol (total cholesterol >240 mg/dL) is one of the major risk factor for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. This challenge makes public health organizations and their partners to design programs that will reduce the prevalence of high cholesterol by increasing public awareness and screening. The purpose of this study was to determine trends in the prevalence and awareness of high cholesterol among adults in Mississippi. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System(BRFSS) of 2015, a cross-sectional, stratified, multistage probability sample survey of the Mississippi residents, noninstitutionalized population examined the prevalence and trend of high cholesterol according to sex and ethnicity for 5039 (n=1703 male and n=3336 females) adults aged 18 to 65 and above. The trends in the percentage of adults screened for elevated level of cholesterol and its awareness was examined using t-test statistical and frequency distribution to determine the percentage differences in the groups. About 38.6% male and 38.3% females had high cholesterol when screened. In addition, 41.9% of non-Hispanic whites was aware of high cholesterol which is higher when compared to 34.2% non-Hispanic blacks. These findings indicated an increased level of awareness of high cholesterol among non-Hispanic whites than non-Hispanic blacks. More attention should be focused on cholesterol screening and awareness, specifically among non-Hispanic blacks in Mississippi.

Attitudes, Practices and Self-efficacy Towards Shopping and Meal Planning: A Phone Survey of Mississippi Residents with Limited Resources

The audience will understand the current needs of the SNAP-ED population in Mississippi in regards to shopping and planning for meals and will learn how the population is willing to be trained and what Mississippi's SNAP-ED program intends to do with this information.

Wednesdays in Mississippi: Proper Ladies Working for Radical Change, Freedom Summer 1964 by Debbie Z. Harwell

Reviewed by: Wednesdays in Mississippi: Proper Ladies Working for Radical Change, Freedom Summer 1964 by Debbie Z. Harwell Amy C. Schneidhorst (bio) Wednesdays in Mississippi: Proper Ladies Working for Radical Change, Freedom Summer 1964. By Debbie Z. Harwell. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2014. ix + 256 pp. Students and scholars of Northern citizens’ participation in the Freedom Summer campaign in Mississippi will be very familiar with Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) student organizers’ commitment and bravery as they lived among, organized, and attempted to register black rural Mississippi residents to vote during the summer of 1964. Until now, little has been known about the network of women allies who channeled resources between Northern supporters and Freedom Summer Projects and who made significant inroads to establishing relationships with segregationist white Southern women in an effort to de-escalate the tensions between the races in Jackson, Mississippi. Harwell deftly recreates, from oral history interviews and a patchwork of archival collections, the previously surreptitious activities of an integrated, interfaith group of mature black and white women who built ties and gained entrée into segregated Southern white society by taking advantage of their common ties with national women’s associations and their performance of respectable womanhood. Black and white; Northern and Southern; Christian, Jewish, and Catholic women participated in the Wednesdays in Mississippi (WIMS), organized by the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). Teams of Northern women flew into Mississippi communities on short weekly missions to research conditions in Freedom Summer projects. Even more significant long-term, WIMS teams made gains in building a base of support from politically moderate and pro-segregation Southern white women in an effort to reduce resistance to the civil rights workers and [End Page 446] the Freedom Summer project. In the process, these politically savvy and courageous women created unprecedented spaces for potential future support among white Southern women civic leaders for the emerging revolution in civil rights and welfare rights. Harwell spotlights the importance of northern Jewish women and African-American women in continuing a progressive political vision for interracial alliances to further human relations after World War II. The 1963 March on Washington’s organizers’ failure to publicly recognize women’s leadership at that historic event sparked YWCA and NCNW leader Dorothy Height to organize women to assert their unique perspectives and talents within the civil rights movement. Harwell illuminates African American women’s leadership and commitment to interfaith, cross-class and cross-race organizing that nurtured dialogue and built alliances toward subverting geographic and social segregation. Less familiar is the political partnership and friendship between Height and WIMS co-founder Polly Cowan, a wealthy suburban Chicago resident from a secular Jewish family, who became lifelong friends with Height and found a “spiritual home” in the NCNW, an organization that not only advocated for African American women but also committed to creating an equitable society through interracial dialogue (34). Height, Cowen and other staffers were committed to building a cross-race alliance based on the conviction that white Americans, negatively impacted by the isolation and social control, were important partners in dismantling the “Cotton Curtain,” the racial apartheid system. The establishment of interracial spaces and acting interracially were essential to building acceptance for more equitable human relations, initially in the Deep South and later replicated by WIMS veterans in Northern urban communities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. Harwell is also sensitive to differences among Southern and Northern Jewish women and how their particular local contexts influenced the perceptions of the potential for social change. Throughout, Harwell cites the prophetic call to heal the world as a basis for Northern Jewish women’s leadership in this human relations movement in the Deep South. Harwell’s book devotes considerable attention to the double consciousness of Southern Jewish women. Many long-time Jewish residents of the South were reticent to publicly support the civil rights movement, socialized enough into white Southern culture to cling to a protection of whiteness and class privilege, and minority enough to fear anti-Semitic backlash from white supremacists. Harwell argues that white Southerners needed neutral...

Meaning, Resilience, and Traumatic Stress After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: A Study of Mississippi Coastal Residents Seeking Mental Health Services.

The present study examines the relationship between resilience, perceived meaning in life, and traumatic stress symptoms among coastal residents of Mississippi directly affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (also known as the Gulf oil spill). The study was conducted as part of a larger project that assessed the spill's effect on the mental health of individuals seeking therapeutic services. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine if resilience and perceived meaning are significant predictors of scores from a measure of posttraumatic stress. Descriptive data, reliability coefficients, and correlations were also calculated. Higher levels of resilience and meaning together were predictive of fewer posttraumatic stress symptoms after controlling for the effect of the spill. Resilience and meaning appeared to be similar predictors of lower posttraumatic stress scores, and meaning appears to be an important facet of what makes a person resilient.

Policy perceptions related to physical activity and healthy eating in Mississippi.

Determine the public perceptions about policies related to physical activity and healthy eating to inform efforts to change policy for these important public health issues. Cross-sectional, structured phone interview survey. Ten counties in Mississippi (5 counties with the highest and 5 with the lowest obesity prevalence). : Random sample of 2800 adults. Level of support for each individual policy and summary of support for 10 policies related to healthy eating and activity and 4 related to local funding for infrastructure for physical activity. This survey showed strong policy support among Mississippi residents for a diverse set of policies aimed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. This was particularly true for those in counties with the highest levels of obesity. Support for policies related to healthy eating and activity was highest for the following: requiring at least 30 minutes of physical activity or physical education everyday for children in kindergarten through 12th grade (93%) and lowest for the following: taxing soda and soft drinks and using the money for public education campaigns to fight obesity in children (65%). Support for the use of local government funds to build and maintain infrastructure for physical activity was high across all categories, ranging from 86% (recreation centers) to 74% (swimming pools). The levels of support for each policy varied according to several demographic characteristics; in general, support for nearly every policy was greater among African Americans, females, and those in counties with higher levels of obesity. Logistic models predicting level of support for healthy eating and physical activity found significant associations with several demographic factors.