The National Institute of Health (NIH) recently announced that they have awarded money to two Augusta community members for being finalist in the Build UP Trust Challenge.
The Build UP Trust Challenge is a competition to promote the identification of solutions that increase research participation and the adoption of medical care through trust and engagement with historically undeserved American communities.
The two finalists are Britney Pooser, executive director of the Hub for Community Innovation, and Christy Ledford, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. They will receive $45,000 for being finalists with their community project, Community Outreach through Athletics in Colleges and High Schools (COACHS).
“COACHS is a culmination of a passion project between myself and Christy,” said Pooser. “We want to make sure that community voices are being heard and integrated in what we are doing.”
COACHS pairs Richmond County schools’ athletic trainers with education and health sectors. The athletic trainers build trust with their students to provide the care they need and act as a bridge to the health care system, especially for students who may not feel comfortable with the health care system or lack health insurance coverage. Augusta University, Wellstar MCG Health, the Richmond County Board of Education, and the Hub for Community Innovation have paired up to help and support the COACHS initiative.
“All of our work is driven by community. We started by asking our neighbors in Laney Walker, Harrisburg, Sand Hills, and downtown how we can serve them and advance the health and well-being of Augusta,” said Ledford. “Again and again, we heard that Augusta’s youth needed support and that mental health is a priority.”
The Build UP Trust Challenge is a way for communities to build trust with historically underserved populations, such as Black and Hispanic Americans. Without trust in populations with health disparities, people with these disparities miss out on new healthcare technologies that could provide them with the care and relief they need.
Pooser and Ledford built their initiative in partnership with other Augusta community members as a part of the Co-Researcher Activation Network (CRANE). CRANE is a community-engagement network that works to family medicine clinics in Georgia with family and communities in need. CRANE has connected community members in Augusta together and has identified that Augusta’s Black and minority youth populations needs additional mental and physical health care support.
The COACHS team includes: Christopher Ledford, M.D., Jessica Britt-Thomas, Ph.D., behavioralist, Vanessa Spearman-McCarthy, M.D., internal medicine physician, Ebony Whisenant, M.D., family physician, Lillie Williamson, Ph.D., expert in mistrust and distrust within Black communities, Britney Pooser and Christy Ledford, Ph.D.
The Outreach Athletic Trainer Program, created by Monte Hunter, M.D., chair of MCG Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, connects athletic trainers with student-athletes to form relationships. Through bonds with the students, trainers should be able to identify the physical, mental, and behavioral needs of their students. Christopher Ledford, MD, director of MCG’s Sports Medicine Fellowship and a family medicine and sports medicine physician, is the current director of the program.
The Outreach Athletic Trainer Program will expand the COACHS initiative with the prize money. Athletic trainers will be able to identify their students’ needs and refer them to the Hub for Community Innovation to receive health services through Harrisburg Family Health Care, mentorship at the Boys and Girls Club, and nutritional services through Augusta Locally Grown, educational support at the Dr. Paulette P. Harris Literacy Center, and workforce and life skills training at RISE Augusta.
“The athletic trainers are building relationships in the schools, and it’s not just with athletes,” said Ledford. “It’s with the students who take P.E., it’s with the students in the band. The athletic trainers are trusted others for all of the students in the school, not just the football team.”
The money will go towards developing equitable access to care, amplifying the programming, and ensuring COACHS continues to serve the youth.
Pooser and Ledford’s team will compete in the next phase of the competition for one of up to four prizes of $200,000 by demonstrating the COACHS initiative in action.
