There is an old story about a young child asking his father what was the most important thing a person could do with his life. The wise parent quickly said, “Make a Mark!” 

The youngster was confused. What did he mean by that? Was he supposed to write on something? His curiosity to know more prodded him to ask his father to explain what he meant. 

“There is nothing better you can do in life than make a mark,” said his father who then explained in greater detail. “When I tell you to make a mark what I am saying is to do something that is so beneficial to others that they will always remember you for it.” 

That is what Star Booker is doing. 

For those of you who don’t know this “rising star”, she the daughter of Jackson High alums and Jonesboro residents, Don and Clara Booker, and the grand daughter of the beloved Maddie Booker who spent her life feeding countless thousands of JHHS students. Star is also a JHHS graduate, being the Valedictorian of the Class of 2006.

Recently Staja “Star” Booker, PhD, RN, who is a College of Nursing professor at the University of Florida,  was awarded a $1 million National Institutes of Health grant to study pain self-management intervention among African-American  senior citizens.

Funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research her study is  titled: “Testing the Pain Relief of Musculoskeletal Conditions and Arthritis using Culturally Tailored Interventions for Black Elders (PROACTIVE) Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial.”

The study will involve 120 self-identifying Black participants, age 50 and older, with chronic musculoskeletal conditions causing pain upon movement. Older Black Americans tend to shy away from long-term use of opioids as well as invasive arthritis treatments, instead relying on alternative forms of pain management. The study will investigate the efficacy of strategies that address their social determinants, according to the project’s summary.

Participants will receive a mix of culturally congruent pain management education with a physical toolkit of self-management products, active prayer and financial/insurance counseling to explain participants’ health care benefits for pain care. After the four-week intervention, researchers will determine if the strategies reduced the participants’ pain.

It allows Star to pursue a life long desire that she realized as a nursing student at JHHS and cultivated as a nurses assistant working weekends at Forest Haven Nursing Home in Jonesboro. 

“I saw so many seniors in pain and it motivated me to want to find a way to help them” reflected Booker in an exclusive interview with the Jackson Parish Journal. “I just felt that there had to be a better way to help them than what has always been done.”

“My resolve to address health disparities remains unchanged because assessment and treatment of pain in older adults remains a significant problem worldwide. Our progress towards pain treatment equity and precision is much improved, but still more is needed, especially for underserved older adults. My motto for this project is that “We walk by FAITH (Finding Arthritis Interventions That Help),” Booker said when discussing her work.

Booker received her undergraduate degree in nursing at Grambling State University in 2010 and a dual masters degree in Adult Health and Gerontology from Penn State University in 2012. She received her PhD from the University of Iowa in 2017