College Receives Grant to Educate Minorities About Health Risks of Tobacco Use
Posted on 7/27/2009
Jules Beck, clinical assistant professor of workforce development in the College of Education and Health Professions, shows the ceremonial check awarded at a ceremony July 21 in Pine Bluff.
Jules Beck, clinical assistant professor of workforce development, is the principal investigator and Bart Hammig, assistant professor of health science, both in the College of Education and Health Professions, is the co-principal investigator of a grant awarded for the prevention of tobacco use in minority communities.
Beck traveled to Pine Bluff on July 21 to attend an award ceremony on behalf of the University of Arkansas. The one-year grant of $30,996 will be used to develop anti-tobacco use messages designed to educate the Hispanic and Marshallese populations in Washington and Benton counties.
The grant was awarded by the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff School of Education's Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office. It will allow a continuation of a multidisciplinary effort within the College of Education and Health Professions to address health issues of minority populations in Arkansas.
The past two years, the college co-sponsored a statewide conference concerning health disparities in children, the elderly, women and minorities. Representatives of state and federal government agencies and other organizations as well as academics presented information and formed connections with each other to advance various programs and research into minority health issues.
The Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff funds local coalition and community-based programs around the state. These organizations were selected through a competitive process to reduce the effects of tobacco use in minority communities.
Beck assisted in the development of the grant proposal with Judith Tavano, former director of the Professional Development Academy in the College of Education and Health Professions, and Deanna Perez Williams, coordinator of the Migrant Education Program at the Boston Mountain Education Cooperative. The Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office approached Tavano in 2008, suggesting she apply for the grant. She and Williams, who developed the concept for the proposal, received a planning grant before applying for the grant awarded this year.
According to the Pine Bluff office, tobacco use in Arkansas kills more people than the other top five causes of death combined, resulting in the death of 5,200 people each year. The impact on Arkansas' economy, in terms of tobacco-associated health care costs, is estimated at $413 million each year.
In November 2000, Arkansans passed Initiated Act One, which dedicates a portion of the state's tobacco settlement revenue to tobacco prevention and cessation. Through the Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant office, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is providing administrative oversight and program direction for the portion of the Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Prevention and Cessation fund designed to target Arkansas' minority populations.
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