The Coordinating Center of Excellence in the Social Promotion of Health Equity Research (CCE-SPHERE)

Community Engagement and Outreach Core

The Community Engagement and Outreach Core (CEOC), under leadership of the Orangeburg community, seeks to bridge the community to the CCE-SPHERE and institutional resources of the University of South Carolina (USC) and Claflin University (CU) to reduce the incidences of health disparities such as HIV/AIDS, and HPV mediated cancers. It acts as the clearinghouse for all community- based participatory research (CBPR) activities. The CEOC does this by promoting translation of what is known and what is learned to the community.

Eliminating health disparities in the incidence, diagnosis and treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) requires culturally sensitive, language appropriate public health efforts; community involvement and support; pooling of resources; and equitable access to quality health care. This is being achieved through the CEOC's Community Action Board (CAB) which guides the efforts of the core by engaging the community in the discovery process; delivering programs, services and resources; linking the community to institutional resources; and outreach efforts (forums, focus groups, town hall meetings).

The CEOC aims to:

Build trust with community partners by engaging them in the planning process of implementing programs focused on eliminating health disparities.
Provide training for the Community Action Board (CAB) and community partners for the purpose of engaging them in the community research and dissemination process.
Provide support and training for community partners to design and implement science education activities/programs for middle schools, high schools and adult community groups.
Empower the CAB and community partners to disseminate outcomes of all programs and research findings at the local, regional and national levels through presentations, peer-reviewed publications, and popular journals to inform researchers as well as the community of minority health issues and health disparities.
Evaluate the community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, impact on the community, and health outcomes during the project year.

Mini-Grants

The mini-grant program supports the capacity of organizations and groups to directly deliver programs and services related to HIV/AIDS and HPV-mediated cancers to community members; therefore increasing the capacity of these organizations and groups to address the needs of their respective communities and move the communities toward health equity and sustainability.

The CEOC mini-grant component provides grants for the areas as follows:

Technology
Program
Training (that align with the CEOC aims)
Support for community health events
Health services

Community Engagement and Outreach Core Co-Director
	Shirley James, MSN, FNP Director, Minority AIDS Council orangeburgaids@aol.com
	Dr. Saundra Glover University of South Carolina Director, Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities sglover@mailbox.sc.edu