Emory Prevention Research Center

Demographic(s) of Focus: adults, children, people in rural areas

Topic Area(s): tobacco use, physical activity, healthy eating, obesity, and cancer prevention, epilepsy

The EPRC work in Southwest Georgia operates through a Community Advisory Board (CAB), which represents over 15 organizations.

Introduction, Mission, and Vision

The Emory Prevention Research Center (EPRC) is one of 26 Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the 2019–2024 funding cycle. Each PRC is funded to establish and maintain its center and to conduct a core research project. PRCs may receive supplemental funding to conduct additional research projects and activities.

EPRC’s mission is to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases and to promote health equity in rural Georgia through community-engaged research. It works to improve the lives of Georgia residents by developing and testing innovative interventions, evaluating promising practices, and training health care practitioners on evidence-based practices to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases.

Core Research

Each PRC uses a community-engaged approach to conduct one primary applied public health prevention research project called a core research project. Project activities include design, development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. PRCs use at least 50% of their CDC funding to conduct the project in partnership with communities.

Healthy Homes/Healthy Families

Healthy Homes/Healthy Families helps families create a home food environment that promotes healthy eating and weight gain prevention.

During the 2014–2019 funding cycle, EPRC worked with community partners in south Georgia to develop an intervention called Healthy Homes/Healthy Families and test it among patients of Federally Qualified Health Centers. The intervention uses coaches to help families change social and physical aspects of their home environments to make them more supportive of healthy eating and weight gain prevention.

Coaching was done through in-home visits and telephone calls and supported with two tools—a tailored Home Food Environment Profile and a menu of Healthy Actions. To assess the intervention, researchers conducted telephone interviews at various intervals. The assessment found that participants made significant changes to their home environment and food behaviors as a result of the intervention.

For the current funding cycle, EPRC’s core research project expands the Healthy Homes/Healthy Families intervention by partnering with United Way 2-1-1 call centers in four Georgia cities: Albany, Columbus, Macon, and Atlanta. It focuses on residents in these cities who have previously called 2-1-1 for help with everyday challenges.

For the new project, all coaching is done through telephone calls and text messages, and the intervention is shortened from 16 weeks to 12 weeks. Researchers will assess whether the intervention will still be effective if it is delivered for a shorter time and only by telephone.

Additional Research

PRCs may receive supplemental funding to work on additional research projects each funding cycle. These Special Interest Projects (SIPs) focus on a variety of health topics or gaps in scientific evidence.  PRCS can also conduct additional research as part of SIP Thematic Research Networks, which are groups of PRCs working together on related health topics.

Emory Prevention Research Center Publications