2023 Department of Pediatrics Academic Annual Report

Community Impact

Using community engagement to improve the public health issues for children living in the Black Belt of Alabama by Heather Watts

Access to care and social determinants of health (SDOH) play a significant role in health disparities and outcomes in our communities. The Black Belt region of Alabama has some of the highest SDOH burden in the state and is at a higher risk for poor access to care due to its rural location. The Black Belt region is largely rural and is predominately black and many of the residents live below the poverty line.

To work at combating these issues in the Black Belt, researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have partnered with state and community partners to improve access to quality care and preventative services. Claudette Poole, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, is program lead on two separate programs targeting sanitation health and rural care coordination to improve asthma outcomes in children in the Black Belt.

Claudette Poole, M.D.

Dr. Poole began her work in the Black Belt with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded Sanitation Health Project. Due to failing septic systems and insufficient sewage disposal in the Black Belt, residents, especially children and pregnant women, in the area are at a higher risk of contracting intestinal infections and parasites.

2023 Academic Annual Report

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