Grants Fund Programs to Study Tobacco Use Among Diverse Populations

Source from:  newstribune.com 01/03/2008

Five Missouri organizations have received a share of $859,833 in grants from Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) to study the prevalence of tobacco use and its effects on diverse groups of Missourians. The grants specifically focus on tobacco-related issues among the metropolitan St. Louis' Bosnian immigrant community, Vashon Jeff VanderLou neighborhood in the City of St. Louis, individuals with mental illness and/or addiction disorders, women who are pregnant or have small children, and Missouri residents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The organizations benefitting from the MFH grants includes: * American Lung Association of Missouri, St. Louis, $200,206. The grant funds the organization's assessment of the effects of second-hand smoke exposure and tobacco use among pregnant women and women with small children in metropolitan St. Louis. * Curators of the University of Missouri-Columbia, $127,793. The project assesses smoking prevalence, risk factors and efforts to quit by Missouri's lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender residents. * Missouri Department of Mental Health, Jefferson City, $23,250. Funding provides for assessment of tobacco use among individuals with serious mental illnesses and addiction disorders in order to develop a smoking prevention/cessation plan for these consumers. * St. Louis County Department of Health, St. Louis, $386,331. This grant provides funding to assess tobacco use among the Bosnian immigrant community in metropolitan St. Louis, as well as to identify factors that impede smoking cessation. * Vashon Jeff VanderLou Initiative, Inc., St. Louis, $122,253. Funding enables the organization to identify community factors leading to tobacco use and how to promote prevention and cessation in this north St. Louis neighborhood, which is predominantly African-American and has poor health levels. Enditem