Mid-life health and resilience in rural Southern communities
Mid-Life Health in the Rural South: Risk and Resilience
This project follows middle-aged adults in rural Southern communities, especially in the Black Belt and Appalachia, to track what helps or harms their health over time.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Vermont & St Agric College NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Burlington, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11087604 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would join alongside other adults from rural North Carolina, including African American and Native American participants, to share information about your health, finances, mood, and daily life. Study staff will do a 120-minute in-home visit to collect questions about your background, short cognitive tests, and physical measures like height, weight, blood pressure, and finger-prick bloodspots. For six months you would complete brief ecological momentary assessments every other week to report short-term changes in mood, social situations, and finances. The new Black Belt participants will be compared with existing Appalachian cohorts to find common risk and resilience patterns across rural communities.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults roughly aged 30 to 55 who live in rural North Carolina Census tracts in the Black Belt or in the Appalachian regions, especially African American and Native American community members.
Not a fit: People who live outside the targeted rural regions, are well outside the target age range, or who need immediate medical care rather than research participation are unlikely to benefit directly from joining.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Results could point to practical targets—like better screening, support services, or community programs—to reduce health disparities and improve mid-life well-being in rural areas.
How similar studies have performed: This project builds on the long-running Great Smoky Mountains Study and its rural-aging extension, which have yielded useful insights, while combining biometrics, cognitive tests, and repeated momentary surveys in new Black Belt samples is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
Burlington, United States
- University of Vermont & St Agric College — Burlington, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Copeland, William — University of Vermont & St Agric College
- Study coordinator: Copeland, William
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.