MADISON (WKOW) -- The Dane County Health Council (DCHC) and The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness (FFBWW) announced a new program for Black pregnant people looking for support.
According to a news release from Public Health Madison and Dane County, ConnectRX Wisconsin is designed to supply Black people with a baby on the way "potentially unmet social needs," such as food, housing, transportation and housing assistance.
“What’s most powerful about the system is its emergence from the collaboration of health systems, Black women and the community working together to eliminate racial birth disparities and save the lives of Black babies," Foundation president and CEO Lisa Peyton-Caire said in the release.
The process of building ConnectRx Wisconsin kicked off in 2017, when community health needs assessments showed maternal and child health to be a prominent concern among community members. Wisconsin has one of the highest Black infant mortality rates in the United States, with 2013-15 CDC data showing 14.28 of every 1,000 Black babies born in Wisconsin die.
In 2018, DCHC commissioned the FFBWW and consulting firm EQT By Design to run a community engagement program centered around Black women on identifying solutions to disparities in low-weight births between Black and white babies in Wisconsin.
More than 300 Black community members participated in the program, building the Saving Our Babies Report, which identified "stress caused by economic insecurity, racism and bias in the daily experiences of Black women and families" as key factors in this disparity. DCHC pointed out that Wisconsin is the only state in the US where the life expectancy gap between Black and white women is growing.
The report led to the launch of the Saving Our Babies Initiative in 2019, as well as the Black Maternal and Child Health Alliance of Dane County, both of which were instrumental in launching ConnectRx. UW assistant professor of population health sciences and obstetrics and gynecology and FFBWW co-chair Dr. Tiffany Green said the work of ConnectRx depends on community ties.
“This work requires a deep dedication to partnership and listening to the voices of the experts and the community members, then acting on what we hear with tangible, systemic change,” Dr. Green said in the release.
ConnectRx starts with a screening, conducted in a culturally sensitive appointment setting at UW Health, using Epic care coordination tools and community health workers to identify specific support needs. ConnectRx also offers doulas and community health promoters for community members.
From there, the care team will refer the patient to community agencies to gain access to specific resources, such as housing, employment and mental health services. Patients with especially high health risks will be offered support from doulas throughout their pregnancy as well as postpartum.
“ConnectRx will transform how we identify and enact sustainable solutions to improve birth outcomes,” DCHC program director Ariel Robbins said in the release. “The Dane County Health Council is proud to facilitate the work that has stemmed from the voices of our community members to change the health trajectory of their lives and the lives of their children.”
Access Community Health Centers, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, SSM Health, UnityPoint Health — Meriter and UW Health all serve as healthcare partners for ConnectRx.
