Determinants of Disease in Rural Appalachia: An Adolescent CBPR Project

Since the inception of WV Health Science and Technology Academy in 1994, underrepresented students have been encouraged to address community health issues. The mission of this community based organization continues to be focused on increasing the number of African American and underrepresented students in WV who pursue degrees in Health Sciences and STEM majors, in order to increase the number of health practitioners and advocates in the medically underserved communities of WV. In fulfillment of this mission HSTA students work on health related research projects each year and in 2009 found the rate of Diabetes in WV exceeded the 50% prevalence projected by the CDC with an actual 60% prevalence in the rural communities in which they live. This research project led to future studies in which adolescent researchers examined the link between lifestyle and diet factors to diabetes diagnosis. Students then translated those results along with future implications back to the communities through Symposia held across the state. The current iteration of this project is an electronic survey tool built in partnership with clinical translational scientists at the University of Pittsburgh through an NIH, Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA). This survey tool has allowed students across the state of WV to examine the determinants of Diabetes and related health problems. The results from one student research project will be presented with current prevalence data from the SEPA-Diabetes, Obesity, and Cardiovascular survey.