- Academics
- Students
- Research
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Centers & Institutes
- Center for Addiction and Mental Health Research
- Center for Criminal Justice and Social Research
- Center for Public Health Modeling and Response
- Center for Research on Health Disparities
- Clemson Rural Health
- Clinical Learning Research Center
- Human Factors Institute
- Institute for Engaged Aging
- Institute for Family and Neighborhood Life
- Institute for Parks
- Outdoor Lab
- Social Media Listening Center
- About
Building Healthy Communities
Building Healthy Communities is a college-wide initiative to improve community health and well-being in South Carolina by focusing on the 5 areas of the social determinants of health. Through scholarly engagement, research, and student learning opportunities CBSHS works to improve lives through youth development and education access, social inclusion and community well-being, food security and the built environment, rural economic development, and access to health services.
The initiative involves these priority programs:
- The Center for Research on Health Disparities helps develop, advance and disseminate research on population health and health disparities.
- Clemson Food and Nutrition Security Initiative, a partnership with other Clemson colleges to address poverty, economic development and hunger in rural communities through food security initiatives
- Clemson Rural Health, an outreach effort that addresses health care access and health disparities
- Oconee Memorial Hospital-Clemson CBSHS Partnership on Aging, a partnership with Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital to open an aging center in the Upstate
- CBSHS Land-Grant Local Food Systems Solutions, a program to improve health and economic outcomes through food-focused curriculum, research and programs
- Race, Ethnicity, Youth and Social Equity Collaboratory, which conducts research about the influence of social inequalities and social injustices on the development of racialized and ethnitized youth populations
- The CBSHS Social Determinants of Health in Persistent Poverty Counties Initiative brings together researchers, students, practitioners, and community partners to create a learning community that shares and identifies key projects aimed to alleviate poverty in persistently poor regions through research and praxis.
- Public Opinion Research and Outreach through the Social Media Listening Center, which helps organizations gauge and share information about important social and political happenings
- Youth Development Programs advances the knowledge and skills of leaders of youth-serving organizations to better address the needs of youth, families, and communities.
Research Initiatives Maps
South Carolina Food Access Map
Clemson CBSHS Health Outreach and Research Initiatives
Initiatives
If you are interested in or actively pursuing research in any of the elements of food systems, FoodFORWARD is for you! The FoodFORWARD 2022 research symposium will be held Thursday, September 15, at the Watt Family Innovation Center from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. The day will include expert speakers, research briefs, poster sessions and a reception featuring local food providers on the Watt Center rooftop.
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Center for Research on Health Disparities
The Center for Research on Health Disparities (CRHD) provides leadership for advancing comprehensive, culturally sensitive, community-based, participatory research that improves health outcomes and enhances quality of life, with a special focus on rural, Appalachian, vulnerable, diverse and underserved communities. The center links faculty, students and community members to advance research on the complex causes of health disparities and the strategies needed to mitigate disparities and expand health equity. CRHD research and scholarship enterprises promote quality of life and well-being for individuals, families and communities, encompassing a lifespan and developmental approach, with results translated back to the community.
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Clemson Food and Nutrition Security Initiative
Our college is committed to working in and with communities in rural South Carolina to address poverty, economic development and hunger. Through a collaborative, cross-college initiative, CBSHS is taking the lead on food systems projects that address food and nutrition security and rural economic development through community-based partnerships in the 46 counties. Projects include partnership with the United Way of Pickens County, Food Access Map, CDC Obesity Prevention Project, and BlueCross BlueShield South Carolina Foundation.
South Carolina Food Access Map
In 2020 the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences’ Land Grant Local program created a Food Access Map as part of its efforts to aid Upstate residents in ten counties facing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The map included information on organizations and the type of assistance they provide as well as operating hours and availability. The Land-Grant Local team worked with the United Way of Pickens County, the nonprofit organization Ten at the Top, and Clemson’s Joseph F. Sullivan Center interdisciplinary health center on the project, to provide information on different food resources across the Upstate. Now, in 2022, the map has been updated to include partners and agencies across all the 46 counties in South Carolina through a grant with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) Office of Environmental Affairs. Clemson Students have worked to verify and update information on over 882 food pantries and food resources, as well as locations and contact information for Department of Social Services, SCDHEC Offices, and United Way locations for all 46 counties.
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Clemson Rural Health
Clemson Rural Health is the organizing framework for Clemson’s health service delivery and prevention efforts statewide. Housed in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS),
Clemson Rural Health includes the Joseph F. Sullivan Center (JFSC), Clemson Health Clinic – Walhalla, our mobile health van fleet, our at-risk community COVID-19 screening teams, our collaborative projects with the Clemson-MUSC Healthy Me – Healthy SC Alliance, the Department of Public Health Sciences (PHS), the School of Nursing, CU Center for Research on Health Disparities, and community development projects led by the Dean and faculty across CBSHS. Key activities include: -
Institute for Engaged Aging
CBSHS, in partnership with Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital (OMH), has opened a center to address critical needs for the aging population in the Upstate and the state of South Carolina. With the hiring of the SmartLIFE Endowed Professor in Aging and Cognition, the Institute for Engaged Aging at OMH provides clinical opportunities for Clemson University students and faculty to examine aging related to mobility and physical functioning. In addition, research laboratories from multiple disciplines are housed at the center. We anticipate the Institute for Engaged Aging will be a leading research and programmatic hub for cutting-edge dissemination for excellence in aging studies.
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CBSHS Land-Grant Local Food Systems Solutions
CBSHS Land-Grant Local Food Systems Solutions works to enhance economic, social and health outcomes in South Carolina through local food systems development and local sourcing of farm and food products into Clemson University in partnership with Aramark Campus Dining. CBSHS is developing curriculum and research centered on local food systems that stress solutions for food and nutrition insecurity and hunger across the state through the social determinants of health. Improving access to local foods has an immediate effect on health and helps to stimulate the South Carolina economy and build relationships across communities. Land-Grant Local further positions CBSHS as a 21st-century, land-grant college dedicated to teaching, research, and service to the state of South Carolina. The annual FoodForward research symposium is a premier Land Grant Local program that highlights the work of research and extension throughout the university.
FoodFORWARD
One of the key initiatives of Land-Grant Local is the FoodFORWARD Research Symposium, hosted jointly by the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences and the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, and The Watt Center. Started in spring 2019, the symposium brings together Clemson food researchers, staff, and extension members for campus-wide collaboration. Researchers from areas such as food systems, food safety, food packaging, food production, food anthropology, food insecurity, and food communication come together for poster presentations and talks from experts in food research.
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Farmer Support Resource Map
This interactive map by the Southern Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network Project (Seeman / Robinson / Hossfeld) is intended to be a resource for partners and researchers of the Farmer Rancher Stress & Suicide Prevention Network (FRSAN). It provides locations and details on many different resources to help relieve stress related to health care issues, financial struggles, and many others.
- Race, Ethnicity, Youth and Social Equity Collaboratory
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SDOH Persistent Poverty Initiative
Poverty rates in the South have always been higher than any other region in the United States. There are 353 persistent poverty counties in the United States, 301 of these are rural and 84% of these are in the South. South Carolina has 12 counties of persistent poverty. Persistent Poverty is a USDA definition that captures the dimension of time. Counties that are defined as persistent poverty have poverty rates that are over 20% in each Census over a 40-year period.
This initiative provides a mechanism, a charge, and a space in which we address the critical issues facing persistent poverty in South Carolina through examining and addressing the social determinants of health. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines the social determinants of health as the “conditions in the places where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life-risks and outcomes.” These include, healthcare access and quality; education access and quality; social and community context; economic stability; neighborhood and built environment.
The CBSHS Social Determinants of Health in Persistent Poverty Counties Initiative brings together researchers, students, practitioners, and community partners to create a learning community that shares and identifies key projects aimed to alleviate poverty in persistently poor regions through research and praxis.
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Public Opinion Research/Outreach
The Social Media Listening Center helps organizations gauge and share information about important social and political happenings. The center partnered with the Department of Political Science to release the Clemson University Palmetto Poll – which researched public opinion about the South Carolina presidential primaries and COVID-19 – and they assisted the South Carolina Emergency Management Division during Hurricane Florence and Clemson’s Emergency Operations Center during the pandemic.
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Youth Development Programs
Youth Development Programs is an academic area within the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management offering Certificate and Master’s Degree programs in Youth Development Leadership for mid-to-upper level youth development professionals. Courses in these interdisciplinary programs are delivered online to better meet the needs of working professionals while also providing dynamic faculty and student engagement through a cohort model and real-time weekly meetings between students and faculty. Students gain the competencies, knowledge and skills to help young people develop into healthy, competent, coping and contributing citizens. A minor in Youth Development Programs is also available to support the needs of undergraduate students whose career will intersect with the youth development field.