FY '23 Awardees for Community & Academic Partnerships Pilot (CAPP) Program
The Utah Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI)’s mission is to foster the highest quality clinical and translational science that supports increased efficiency and effectiveness of research, and ultimately improve the health of our population—reducing health disparities and increasing equity.
Both NCATS and the CTSI’s objectives cannot be fully realized without close collaboration with the communities they serve.
Leveraging CTSA and institutional funding, the Utah CTSI’s Community and Academic Partnership Pilot (CAPP) program will support collaborations between Utah and adjacent states community organizations and CTSI-affiliated academic partners that address at least one of the following focal areas:
- Address barriers to conducting clinical & translational research
- Advance human health
- Understand and reduce health disparities
- Kevin S Shah MD, Assistant Professor Dept of Internal Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Medicine (academic PI)
- Balaji Sudabattula, President of the India Cultural Center (ICC) of Utah (Community PI)
- $60K is the award amount the project dates are 6/1/23-5/31/24
- Title: Characterizing and Improving Cardiovascular Health among Utah South Asians
LAY SUMMARY: South Asians have a greater prevalence of heart disease which develops earlier and in a more aggressive manner than people of other ethnicities. The India Cultural Center (ICC) in Utah is a cultural gathering place of South Asians in Utah. Based on a community-needs assessment and meeting with a local Community Advisory Board, there is interest in reducing heart disease among South Asians locally. We will organize health screening events for local South Asians in partnership with the Wellness Bus at the ICC to provide participants’ a report of their heart disease risk and offer select individuals the opportunity to participate in a 9-month health coaching intervention program in order to evaluate its impact on improving their cardiovascular health and increase participant knowledge of what can be done to lower their heart disease risk.
- Michelle Debbink, MD, PhD, University of Utah (UU) Dept of Obstetrics & Gynecology (ObGyn) (academic PI)
- Leilani Taholo, PhD, LCSW, Clinical Director of Child and Family Empowerment Services (CFES) (community PI)
- Title: Wāhine Koa: Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander mothers claiming culturally integrated perinatal mental health care
- Award is $60K and project period is 4/1/23-3/31/24
LAY SUMMARY: Pregnant and postpartum Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander people (NHPI mothers) have increased rates of pregnancy-related complications or death compared to White mothers. Unmet mental health care needs contribute to maternal deaths, and NHPI mothers have unmet perinatal mental health care (PMHC) needs. NHPI mothers themselves identified a lack of culturally-responsive PMHC as an important barrier to better health during pregnancy and postpartum. We will fill this need by bringing together a team of experts and NHPI mothers with lived experience to assess: 1) inequities in PMHC for NHPI mothers in Utah; and 2) to test an adaptation process for PMHC programs to better serve NHPI mothers. We will use this information to develop a robust process for adapting programs that can be used in other communities, and that can be used to fully develop culturally-appropriate PMHC for NHPI mothers. This project will ultimately lead to reduced mental health complications and death related to pregnancy for NHPI mothers.