UMatters

UMKC has received a $1 million National Institutes of Health grant to focus on health and wellness disparities in the African American community.

The grant will establish the Heartland Health Network, which will be comprised of UMKC, Calvary Community Outreach Network, Kansas City Free Health Clinic and other community organizations working to do research and promote wellness among African American. The Network itself is based on the long-term research of UMKC Department of Psychology investigators Drs. Kathy Goggin, Jannette Berkley-Patton and Delwyn Catley.

A 2008 study through The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation working toward a high performance health system, found that 48 percent of African American adults suffer from a chronic disease, compared with 39 percent of the general population. The American Cancer Society reports that African Americans are more likely than other racial or ethnic group to die from cancer.