Institute for Health Equity Advances

Aim: Reduce Obesity Among Vulnerable Populations

The Institute for Health Equity Advances: Education, Research, and Technology (IHEAERT) was established at Wichita State University in 2020 in an effort to reduce obesity among vulnerable populations and improve health literacy as a mechanism among health care providers for behavior change.

Since then the institute has been working towards developing new intervention strategies for minority populations to improve obesity health literacy, as well as new approaches to model complex interrelationships among disparate forms of information.

Certain groups recognized as being at a higher risk for developing obesity include racial/ethnic minorities, children, the elderly, the socioeconomically disadvantaged, the underinsured, and people with certain medical conditions.The team aims to conduct basic and applied research to understand the complex interrelationships and impacts of social determinants in creating health disparities in minority individuals, communities, and populations; and to mitigate those impacts through new innovative approaches to improve health literacy.

View the proposal

IHEAERT

The Institute provides the opportunity for transdisciplinary engagement and education of researchers, practitioners and students from Community Psychology, Engineering, Nursing, Public Health, and Sociology.

Umama Ali presented her poster "The Analysis on the Effect of Gestational Diabetes and Maternal Obesity on Infant Health Outcomes on Rural and Urban Counties in Kansas" at the Center for Research for Infant Birth and Survival (CRIBS) symposium on April 13, 2022. Ali discussed the growing prevalence of gestational diabetes, the disparity between urban and rural mothers and the importance of a healthy weight before pregnancy.

Shazia Ahmed presented her poster “Accessibility of Treatment and Resources for Gestational Diabetes in Sedgwick County” on April 15, 2022 at the WSU Undergraduate and Creative Arts Forum. Shazia’s research described resources available in SG County available for women who had Gestational Diabetes during pregnancy and ways to improve the health services to better meet the needs of women.