Virgin Islands Export Center for Health Disparities

描述(由申请人提供)：该申请是为了在美属维尔京群岛建立加勒比健康差距研究和教育出口中心。拟建的中心将开发必要的资源和基础设施，以扩大教育和卫生方面的研究能力，支持跨学科项目，以减少美属维尔京群岛(圣托马斯、圣克罗伊和圣约翰)健康状况差异人口的健康状况差异。该中心将设在维尔京群岛大学护理司内。维尔京群岛大学是唯一一所美国大陆以外的HBCU。它的护理学士学位课程是该地区唯一培养卫生专业人员的课程。一份非常稀少的文献表明，美属维尔京群岛居民的心脏病、糖尿病、艾滋病毒感染、婴儿死亡率和其他健康差距很大。然而，除了国家报告中包含的粗略的流行率数据外，很少有研究描述可能与报告的流行率相关的因素。美属维尔京群岛的人口高度多样化，非洲裔美国人、非裔加勒比海人和西班牙裔美国人占总人口的80%。获得保健、缺乏医疗保险、教育有限和贫困可能是健康促进和预防活动的重大障碍，最终可能缩小我们岛屿内的健康差距。然而，我们将需要提高教师和社区代表的能力，以进行差异研究，其中包括重点研究，纳入岛屿的历史、背景、文化、准入和其他导致岛屿内部差异的因素。本申请中描述的领导力、能力建设和其他发展活动反映了该大学和我们的合作伙伴对提高我们更有效地解决美属维尔京群岛健康差距的能力的根本承诺。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is to develop the Caribbean Export Center for Research and Education in Health Disparities in the Virgin Islands of the United States. The proposed Center will develop resources and the infrastructure needed to expand research capacity in education and health that will support interdisciplinary projects to reduce disparities in health status for health disparity populations in the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John). The Center will be located at the University of the Virgin Islands within the Division of Nursing. The University of the Virgin Islands is the only HBCU outside the continental U.S. Its baccalaureate nursing program is the only program in the territories preparing health professionals. A very sparse literature suggests that residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands have significant rates of heart disease, diabetes, HIV infection, infant mortality and other health disparities. However, beyond sketchy prevalence data incorporated in national reports, few studies have described factors that might be associated with reported prevalence rates. The population of the U.S. Virgin Islands is highly diverse with African American, African Carribean and Hispanics comprising 80% of the population. Access to care, lack of health insurance, limited education and poverty may represent significant barriers to health promotion and prevention activities that could ultimately reduce health disparities within our islands. Yet we will need to increase the capacity of faculty and community representatives to conduct disparity research that includes focused studies that incorporate island history, context, culture, access and other factors contributing to these disparities within the islands. The leadership, capacity building and other developmental activities described in this application reflect the underlying commitment of the University and our collaborating partners to improve our ability to address health disparities in the U.S. Virgin Islands more effectively.