C2 - Addressing Health Equity in MCH through Infrastructure and Investment in Communities using Health Equity Zones

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Full Description: The COVID-19 pandemic pushed health inequities to the forefront of public discussions, including those surrounding maternal and child health (MCH). This greater awareness has also brought growing recognition that place matters when it comes to the health of pregnant women, infants, children, and youth. Research shows that up to 80% of health outcomes stem not from genes, biology, or clinical care, but from factors in our homes, schools, jobs, and communities. Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zone (HEZ) initiative is an innovative, place-based approach that brings communities together to build the infrastructure needed to achieve healthy, systemic changes at the local level. Healthy communities have adequate transportation; employment opportunities; clean, safe, and affordable housing; parks and open space; access to fresh, healthy food and clean water; a high-quality education system; and safe streets. Through the HEZ initiative, traditional MCH investment in state programming is paired with investments in the establishment and sustainability of the community capacity to impact MCH outcomes by addressing the unique needs of the community, including key social determinants of health affecting women, children, and families.
Achieving health equity requires an understanding of different community needs and investing accordingly to support opportunities for health for everyone. By aligning strategic investments with existing assets and resources across sectors, each community can address their unique needs, reduce disparities, and stimulate economic growth. Strong community development begins with authentic community engagement. HEZs engage the entire community to create solutions for MCH issues that are culturally and socially relevant, as well as sustainable. Through this collaborative, community-led process that is representative of the diverse makeup of the communities, HEZs conduct community assessments and implement data-driven action plans to address unique social, economic, and environmental factors to support MCH in their communities. In this way, the HEZs are empowered to identify and address the root causes of disparate MCH outcomes at the local level.
This workshop will dive into what the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed about MCH-related health needs and health equity within HEZ communities, and how MCH investment in Rhode Island’s HEZ initiative allowed the state to be poised to quickly and effectively address the immediate and pressing health needs of families, women, and children to support improved health outcomes during the pandemic and beyond. This workshop explores the HEZ through real examples of the impact of community health workers, doulas, and youth ambassadors in their roles as trusted sources, in supporting MCH, in providing critical health information and access, and in promoting health and healthy living through addressing social determinants of health to improve health outcomes in local communities and statewide.

Abbreviated Description: Rhode Island’s innovative place-based Health Equity Zone (HEZ) initiative poised the State to quickly and effectively address the pressing health needs of families, women, and children to support improved health outcomes during the pandemic and beyond. In this workshop, you’ll explore the HEZ initiative through real experiences of community health workers, doulas, and youth ambassadors, who serve as trusted sources in the community, support MCH priorities, provide critical health information and access, ensure equitable distribution of resources, and promote health and healthy living through addressing social determinants of health. Learn how the HEZs improve MCH outcomes and support resilience in local communities and statewide.