Expanding Community-Engaged Research in 2024
This year our Research & Evaluation (R&E) division has had quite the journey and we’re excited to share it with you! While completing years-long projects in some areas, we have taken on new challenges in others, yet throughout all of our work this year, we’ve been grateful for the opportunity to expand our community.
Due to the realities of the climate crisis, this year has been very difficult for many communities across the country. Being based in New Orleans, we are uniquely positioned to work to tackle these challenges through varied collaborations with incredible partners who have been working tirelessly to bring to light real stories of how the climate crisis, particularly hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region, has affected our communities.
The Healthy Neighborhoods Project — a longstanding collaboration with our partners at Tulane University’s Violence Prevention Institute — explored how housing blight, which is a symptom of the long-term impacts of Hurricane Katrina on the city, is related to community well-being across New Orleans. The results of this study can be read in the three articles listed below, published this year in the peer-reviewed journals Applied Research in Quality of Life, Journal of Urban Health, and Scientific Reports, respectively.
The Impact of Vacant and Abandoned Property on Health and Well-Being: A Qualitative Inquiry
A Qualitative Exploration of the Built Environment as a Key Mechanism of Safety and Social Cohesion for Youth in High-violence Communities
Social Capital and Changes of Psychologic Distress During Early Stage of COVID-19 in New Orleans,
The first article, The Impact of Vacant and Abandoned Property on Health and Well-Being: A Qualitative Inquiry article was led by our very own Gabriella Roude, Senior Research Associate, who contributed to the project since its inception in 2019. This study is an important part of the healing work that continues to be needed post-disaster, and we’re grateful for the impact this work has made — and will continue to make — to improve our communities' safety and health.
The R&E division also partnered with UNITY of Greater New Orleans to produce the report, Factors Impacting Hurricane Preparedness among Low-Income and Other Vulnerable Populations of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. This report reflects the perspectives of local residents, climate experts, and social service providers on hurricane preparedness in both Orleans and Jefferson parishes. We’ve shared key findings from the report in a previous newsletter, and we’re excited to be able to share the full report with you in 2025. We truly appreciate the community members who shared their thoughts on this project, as their contributions served as the foundation for this report, allowing a broader audience to see their valuable perspectives.
In addition to environmental health projects, the R&E division also contributed to our Adolescent Health (AH) programming. The team worked closely with the AH division and our external evaluators the Policy and Research Group on the study design, planning, and pilot phases of our newest randomized controlled study, the Film Learning Experience (FLEx). FLEx’s goal is to methodically evaluate our Are You Ready? curriculum — an Entertainment Education (EE) intervention we recently developed based around our narrative short film, Happy Birthday, Leonard — against a control intervention to test its efficacy as a teen pregnancy prevention intervention. Check out the this blog to learn more about open enrollment and how you can get involved in the study!
Finally as we recap, we’d like to talk about our Institutional Review Board (IRB), which in 2024 both closed another board year and opened up a new board year this July. Since the 2024-2025 board year began, IRB members have reviewed four new research protocols, two of which were submitted by new partners. We’re also proud to announce that the IRB welcomed three new youth members on the board.
Just as our portfolio has grown throughout the year, our staff has, too! This year we welcomed a new Research & Evaluation Coordinator, Lydia Garrett-Metz (formerly an intern with our Collective for Healthy Communities), and a new Research & Evaluation Director, Ayesha Umrigar. You can learn more about Lydia’s approach to the work in her Staff Spotlight here, and be on the lookout for Ayesha’s Staff Spotlight in 2025! Their contributions to the team have already improved our work exponentially, and we are so grateful to have them.