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THE FORT VALLEY PROGRAM

The Southeast PEHSU is involved in a community engagement project with the town of Fort Valley GA, in Peach County, where there is a high prevalence of low income, minority and underserved population with a high incidence of asthma and asthma related illnesses including emergency room visits, hospitalizations and school absenteeism. 

We are partnering with Fort Valley State University (FVSU), which is a historically black university (HBCU) located in Fort Valley, Georgia. It is a unit of the University System of Georgia and a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. As the only 1890 land-grant university in Georgia, Fort Valley State University is a comprehensive institution that provides an education to over 4,000 students. Approximately 94% of the current student body is of African-American descent.

PROJECT GOAL: to work with families who have children with asthma in order to:
 

  • Identify asthma triggers in the home
     

  • Work with the families to reduce the asthma triggers
     

  • Provide health literacy for the families to improve asthma management
     

  • Measure asthma morbidity in children before and after the intervention
     

  • Establish a sustainable process to continue to reduce asthma triggers and continue to improve the health of children with asthma in Fort Valley

To this end we are working with local and state agencies in a collaborative effort, pooling our expertise and resources. One of the first steps was to engage with the community in a meeting in the Mayor’s office with local leaders of the community as well as: 

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  • Region 4 EPA

  • Department of Public Health Children’s Medical Services

  • Department of Public Health Healthy Homes Division

  • Fort Valley State University

  • University of Georgia 

  • Georgia Asthma Coalition 

  • Early Head Start Program

  • School nurses

Download the Asthma fact Sheet for Families in Fort Valley

Meeting in the Mayor’s Office in Fort Valley on 4/28/17.
The photograph includes the Mayor, Community Leaders, Region 4 EPA, Southeast PEHSU, Fort Valley State University, University of Georgia, Department of Public Health, and Georgia Asthma Coalition.

The project is in the early recruitment stage and we are working with Public Health and school nurses to identify children with asthma. In addition, we attended the Annual Peach Fair on June 10, 2017 where we were able to meet with the citizens of Fort Valley and to recruit families. 

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The project is funded by Region 4 EPA. 

Fort Valley, Georgia is a Population in 2014:
8,952 (95% urban, 5% rural). 

  • Black 81%

  • White 11%

  • Hispanic 6%

  • Mixed and Other 2%

ER dept visits for asthma by afe group, peach county 2006-2010
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