2016 Community Engagement Scholarship Award
- Adesuwa Olomu
- Department of Family Medicine
- College of Human Medicine
- Linda S. Vail
- Health Officer
- Ingham County Health Department
Linda S. Vail, Ingham County Health Department, and Dr. Adesuwa B. Olomu, College of Human Medicine, are the co-recipients of the 2015-16 Community Engagement Scholarship Award
Bridging the Cardiovascular Care Gap for Low-income Patients
The 2016 Community Engagement Scholarship Award honors Adesuwa Olomu, professor of medicine, MSU, and the Ingham County Health Department, represented by Linda S. Vail, health officer, in their efforts to bridge the medical care gap for minority and low-income populations in the Lansing community. The partnership aims to translate research into practice in cardiovascular care for these vulnerable populations, with the goal of decreasing the burden of cardiovascular disease and death.
The innovative Office Guidelines Applied to Practice (Office-GAP) program was designed to activate and engage patients and improve prevention of cardiovascular disease for vulnerable populations in outpatient settings through the use of evidence-based medication protocols and lifestyle changes. With funding from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the partnership enrolled more than 800 patients in the program from 2010 to 2015; additionally, more than 595 patients attended the educational group visits and made follow-up appointments with their health care providers.
The partners developed and tested the Office-GAP program in three cohorts through a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design over six months, followed by a 12-month follow-up. The Office-GAP program integrates health literacy, communication skills education for patients and physicians, decision support tools, and shared decision making into routine care.
The Office-GAP program led to improved medication usage, improved blood pressure control, and increased patient-provider shared decision making, along with better patient satisfaction with providers and more confidence in the health care decisions made. The program has provided an opportunity for student, physician, and faculty engagement in health disparity studies.
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The Community Engagement Scholarship Award (CESA) is conferred annually in recognition of exemplary engaged scholarship with a community partner. The researcher and partner are recognized at the University's Awards Convocation in February, where they share a stipend of $2,500.
Beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year, CESA finalists in each of the following four categories will be named recipients of the new MSU Distinguished Partnership Awards:
- Community-engaged research
- Community-engaged creative activity
- Community-engaged teaching
- Community-engaged service
These recognitions include a shared stipend of $1,500 and finalists will be recognized at a separate ceremony during the Spring Semester:
The winning CESA partnership represents MSU in the competition for the regional W. K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Awards and the national C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award. Both awards are jointly sponsored by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. They are among the most prestigious recognitions of exemplary engaged scholarship in the United States, and also provide cash prizes, including $20,000 for the top national award.
For further information about the Awards, and past recipients, please visit engage.msu.edu/awards/cesa.
- Written by Carla Hills, University Outreach and Engagement
