Reaching the underserved through community-based participatory research and service learning: description and evaluation of a unique medical student training program.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an overview of the Community Health Fellowship Program (CHFP), describe the types of projects completed by the community health fellows from 2005 to 2009 and to assess the program's effectiveness from the perspective of fellows and community partners. METHODS: We developed the CHFP for training medical students in community-based participatory research (CBPR), and understanding the components of successful community partnerships for addressing health disparities in underserved communities. The program has didactic and applied community research components. RESULTS: From 2005 to 2009, fellows completed 25 research projects with 19 different community partners. Fellows reported favorable attitudes about the program, their mentors, and their community projects; their research knowledge increased significantly in most areas, especially their ability to develop a succinct research question, familiarity with CBPR, and delivering a formal research presentation (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, P <.05). Community partners reported favorable attitudes toward the fellows and the program; using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not favorable, 5 = very favorable), they reported highly favorable attitudes about fellows' level of responsibility (4.85), level of cooperation (4.85), familiarity with the needs of the medically underserved (4.69), and knowledge of how to apply local solutions to health problems (4.54). CONCLUSIONS: The CHFP has high favorability and support among fellows and community partners; the program can serve as a prototype for training future physicians in understanding and addressing the needs of the underserved, through community partnerships, and community-based participatory research.

Nativity status and mammography use: results from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey.

Disparities exist in mammography use based on nativity status. Using the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, we examined the link between nativity status and mammography use in the past 2 years among women (≥40 years) and investigated whether acculturation was associated with mammography use among foreign-born women using multivariate analyses. Foreign-born women were less likely (OR = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.65, 0.87) to report mammography use compared to US born women. After adjusting for selected covariates, results were no longer statistically significant. Foreign-born women (≥65 years) who were not US citizens (i.e. less acculturated) were less likely (OR = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.06, 0.46) to report mammography use compared to naturalized citizens. Based on our findings, mammography use did not differ between US and foreign-born women. Therefore, the disparities in incidence and mortality rates observed between these groups may be due to other factors.

Awareness and prevention of osteoporosis among South Asian women.

We examined awareness of osteoporosis prevention among peri- and post-menopausal South Asian women attending two community centers in the Dallas/Fort-Worth Metroplex. We conducted a quasi-experimental study (final N = 61) assessing knowledge about osteoporosis among South Asian women (>or=40 years). The mean age was 52.3 years (SD = 8.72). Over 50% were college educated and 64% had no health insurance. We administered a baseline knowledge test, followed by a health education intervention and, 2 weeks later, by a post-test. Participants received one point for each correct answer and scores were added (