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North Country residents being invited to participate in health status of region

Posted 6/27/11

POTSDAM -- A SUNY Potsdam professor and a student researcher are inviting North Country residents to help them with a study of the health status of the region’s population. Dr. Kelly Bonnar, an …

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North Country residents being invited to participate in health status of region

Posted

POTSDAM -- A SUNY Potsdam professor and a student researcher are inviting North Country residents to help them with a study of the health status of the region’s population.

Dr. Kelly Bonnar, an assistant professor in the Department of Community Health, and senior Samantha Paige of Norfolk are surveying residents to see if there are disparities or avoidable differences in Type II Diabetes among area residents of different races and ethnicities.

Bonnar said the data obtained from Paige's study will contribute to the evolving St. Lawrence County Rural Minority Health Project, which began last year.

The researchers said that in the United States, racial and ethnic minorities face a disproportionate burden of preventable morbidity and mortality compared to non-Hispanic whites. This is especially true in rural areas where poverty levels are high and access to health care is limited.

Data show that rural blacks and African-Americans experience the highest rates of Type II Diabetes in the country compared to other racial/ethnic groups and blacks and African-Americans in urban areas.

In northern New York, Bonnar and Paige said, data for Type II Diabetes among minorities is scarce.

To participate in the survey, residents can go to the St. Lawrence County Minority Health Project website at sites.google.com/site/slcmhp/home.

You can also link directly to the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/F2HFLQ9. Residents can also call the researchers for a paper copy of the survey at 267-3188.