PHS Doctoral Student Addresses Health Disparities in Cabarrus County
Public health Ph.D. student Corliss Solomon is working with health policymakers in Cabarrus County to ensure programs intended to help underserved communities are operating effectively. ChangeLab Solutions recently wrote about her efforts to alleviate health disparities and connect research and community outreach.
Open Use in Cabarrus County, NC
Virginia Adams understands the links between spiritual health and physical health. She works as a registered nurse at First Missionary Baptist Church in Concord, North Carolina. In this capacity, she helps congregants and community members approach wellness from every angle, which includes eating healthy foods and getting exercise.
“I work with people to address the spirit, mind, and body,” she said, “and I establish a relationship with the community to help individuals see the importance of having a healthy lifestyle.” But for many church congregants and local residents, it’s hard to find affordable, safe spaces to be physically active.
Making Physical Activity a Priority
Concord is the county seat of Cabarrus County, which faces serious health disparities. “The county has large Hispanic and African American populations, and the adults in both groups are more likely than white adults to have a chronic disease,” said Corliss Solomon, a doctoral student in public health at UNC Charlotte. Solomon works with the local health authority, Cabarrus Health Alliance (CHA), to evaluate its Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) project.
This excerpt was reprinted with permission from Change Lab Solutions