The DHF Story

HOW DID THE PSBH® PROGRAM BEGIN IN THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA?
The Problem Solving for Better Health® (PSBH®) effort in the Mississippi Delta began in 2003 as a result of a contact between Pug Winokur, Bill Luckett and Morgan Freeman. This contact led to discussions with the Dreyfus Health Foundation that, in turn, led to the launching of the PSBH program, but ultimately much more than that. From the very beginning, the initiative was envisioned as not only a way to try to improve health and quality of life in the Delta through the engagement of the people there, but also as a potential model for other disadvantaged rural and semi-rural areas in the United States in general.

“Health” in its broadest sense is a product of a society whose various sectors from economics to culture and recreation are all “healthy,” the Mississippi Delta PSBH Initiative was designed to be multisectoral, and that is what has happened (better yet, been built). What began as a series of typical PSBH projects implemented by community people now has, in addition to those efforts, the involvement of a consortium of academic social and public health entities (Harvard University School of Public Health, Mississippi State University School of Social Science Research, Arkansas Public Health Institute, the University of Arkansas School of Medicine, the University of Memphis, University of Tennessee, Delta State University), the Delta Blues Museum, local business leaders, the Delta State University School of Nursing, and the local media – in addition, of course, to the people of the Delta themselves.

Since its inception, the initiative has encountered both predictable and unexpected obstacles, but has overcome them to fulfill its promise both as a catalyst for effective and sustainable local transformation, as well as a provider of the foundational elements for a nationally applicable model for change in rural communities.

Now in its fifth year of activity, the Mississippi Delta Initiative has made major strides on multiple fronts. Over 50 projects have been developed and implemented throughout the Delta. It is important to recognize that many of these projects have been completed. However, there are 15 projects that are ongoing in communities in several Delta counties. They are no longer projects, but established facets of changed life. These efforts have “taken root” and now impact lives throughout the Delta. Although there is certainly much more to do to fully achieve both goals, the process of change is now in place and able to stand on its own two feet.

The transformational process of PSBH is alive and well and doing what it has been designed to do, i.e., produce measurable and sustainable change in health and quality of life for a broad range of people, while at the same time laying a multisectoral foundation for continuing community advancement.

Source: Dreyfus Health Foundation