HARLEM - Tobacco use prevention
As a community, Harlem presents some of the most challenging public health dilemmas. But, according to Nancy Van Devanter, Dr.P.H., of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, the neighborhood also offers some of the most exciting possibilities for public health interventions.
Harlem is the focus of the Columbia Prevention Research Center (PRC) – one of 26 university-based centers designated by CDC to join with local public health partners to reduce health risks and promote healthy behaviors. “The rationale of these centers is to go deep into a community; seek out its needs, capabilities, and concerns; and build a program around what you find,” says Lynda Doll, Ph.D., director of the PRC program.
In Harlem, one of the biggest threats to public health is tobacco use. In the United States, 25 percent of Americans smoke; in Harlem, the smoking rate is 44 percent.
“We feel a special sense of urgency here,” says Robert Robinson, Dr.P.H., of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “The connection between tobacco use and poverty is painfully evident, and the level of tobacco marketing that targets the African American population is astounding. It makes tobacco control in communities of color an overwhelming challenge.”
It is a challenge uniquely suited to the method and philosophy of the PRCs.
Reducing tobacco use in Harlem is largely a matter of asking the right questions, says Dr. Robinson. “How can we earn the support of the community? How can we gain access to its youth and adults? Are its leaders at the table? Is there a network of researchers, stake-holders, and organizations? We can stand on the highest roof in Harlem and yell, but it won’t work unless we have the capacity and infrastructure.”
The American Legacy Foundation was impressed with the work of the PRCs - in Harlem, and around the country. “Legacy is committed to building partnerships with organizations to ensure tobacco prevention is top-of-mind,” says Lyndon Haviland, Dr.PH., executive vice-president and chief granting officer at Legacy. “We approached the CDC Foundation to discuss a grant partnership because the Prevention Research Centers offer an outstanding opportunity to weave community tobacco prevention into their existing efforts.”
Thanks to American Legacy’s $6 million grant, projects have been funded at nine PRCs for a three-year period. Lynda Doll says, “This partnership will make our research reach further and have greater impact. It will improve the science of how we do public health in communities.”