Factors Associated with Beneficiary Outcomes from Community Health Programs in Predominantly Low-Income African American Communities in Mississippi USA

Background: Community health programs (CHPs) can improve the conditions of disadvantaged populations through direct health and support services.

Objective: We examine factors associated with two CHP beneficiary outcomes including program needs being met and satisfaction in the low-income and predominantly African American cities of Belzoni and Jackson in Mississippi, USA.

Methods: A retrospective and cross-sectional design is implemented using chi squared tests and regression analysis of 108 survey responses from a convenience sample.

Results: Chi-squared test results associate program meeting needs with gender, participation, efforts towards financial success, and financial condition. Satisfaction is also associated with age, marital status, gender, years at address, degree of participation, ethnicity, efforts at financial success, and financial condition. Equally, logistic regression analysis associates satisfaction with marital status, gender, years at address, age group, ethnicity, education, and efforts at financial success.

Discussion and conclusions: The negative relationship between participation in program activities and satisfaction, and the large size of participants (42-57%) who are less likely to report satisfaction with services, calls for an investigation of the causes of low levels of satisfaction. Immediate and long-term improvements needed to strengthen the fit between CHP services and beneficiary needs in Belzoni and Jackson are recommended.