Director of Bassett’s Center for Rural Community Health Looks to Address Area’s Health Concerns

Cooperstown, N.Y. – Bassett's newly established Center for Rural Community Health is conducting research to assess rural work sites as useful locations for weight control intervention. Director David Strogatz, Ph.D., says, "One challenge for rural residents is limited access to health care services or programs for promoting health. Through community involvement and guided projects, we intend to make it easier for people to be healthy in this environment."

Strogatz, who started his work with the Bassett Research Institute January 3, 2011, is advising Bassett researchers Ida Baker and Jennie Kreis on the weight control intervention project. Other potential projects of the center include working in schools to enhance nutrition education and dental health and helping communities to reduce tobacco use and increase screening for early detection of chronic diseases. These and a series of new activities will be developed and formally evaluated by Center for Rural Community Health scientists. Programs proven effective will be offered to communities across the Bassett region.

Dr. Strogatz is an epidemiologist with expertise in community-level health interventions. He came to Bassett from the School of Public Health of the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he served as chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and as director of a CDC-designated Prevention Research Center. Bassett Research Institute Director, John May, MD notes, "We are delighted to have someone of Dr. Strogatz’s stature and expertise leading our new Center for Rural Community Health. We aim to achieve the level of excellence in community health that is evident elsewhere in Bassett’s provision of health care.”

The Center for Rural Community Health will work with state and local public health resources and with Bassett health professionals across the region to better understand the most serious health challenges affecting the people in Bassett’s catchment area and to design and test community-based strategies to address these challenges. The center will look to surrounding health resources, schools, and local businesses to see if infrastructure already exists that can be built upon, in collaboration with the center, to enhance health access and opportunities for individuals.