News
Statewide Health Equity Index initiative launched today by health directors and community organizations
By Press Release
Aug 7, 2008 - 9:39:51 AM

$3 Million Grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will help local health departments better understand and address the conditions that affect health equity

The Connecticut Association of Directors of Health, Inc. (CADH) today announced the $3 million grant it recently received from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support development of the Health Equity Index (HEI), a statewide initiative that will help local health departments promote health equity. The announcement was made during a press conference at Central Connecticut State University’s Center for Public Policy and Social Research.

The HEI profiles and measures the social, economic and environmental conditions that support or harm state residents’ physical well-being. This approach goes beyond examining health care system deficiencies to one that emphasizes prevention by investigating the underlying conditions that impact health. The project was developed in response to local public health directors expressing the need to address racial, economic and gender health disparities in communities across the state.

“To understand health equity, we need to reframe the way we think about health and how health differences are usually presented,” said Richard Matheny, president of the Connecticut Association of Directors of Health, Inc. “Tackling health inequities requires broadening our view and looking at how the conditions in which a person works and lives influence his or her well-being. This grant will allow us to continue examining these factors in our local communities and effectively advocate for policy change.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant will be disbursed to CADH over three years, from 2008 to 2011. The first year will fund the further design and development of the HEI for use at the community level. In mid 2009, another $1 million will support three local health departments that will serve as demonstration sites for piloting the HEI initiative. These sites will be selected through a request for proposal process. The final $1 million will fund an evaluation of the HEI approach and outcomes from 2010 to 2011.

“The Health Equity Index reflects the ongoing work of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to create environments that nurture families and children and position them for success,” said Barbara J. Sabol, program director of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “This statewide initiative will increase understanding of local health needs and ultimately create healthier communities.”

Studies conducted throughout the state are revealing many of these needs. A 2007 study of children’s mental health issues conducted by the Northeast District Department of Health in Brooklyn, Conn., revealed that long waiting lists and treatment expenses were common barriers to parents, school personnel and health care providers, while adolescents named a lack of transportation and mistrust of the health care system.

At the Center for Eliminating Health Disparities Among Latinos at the University of Connecticut (CEHDL), a study underway is showing that individuals in the Greater Hartford area with low incomes who are suffering from diabetes are encountering numerous barriers, including low literacy rates and lack of insurance, access to nutritious foods, transportation to appointments and safe areas for exercise.

“We need to understand these factors to fully grasp the magnitude of this problem and identify relevant solutions,” said Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, Ph.D., director of the CEHDL. “This is not something that can be fixed by a few individuals, and these health disparities do not happen in a vacuum.”

U.S. Representative John Larson [D-Conn.), Sen. Toni Harp [D-New Haven], former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) Sue Addiss and current DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin spoke today about the role of public health as a catalyst for collaboration and explained how the HEI can provide important data that can lead to policy change and corrective actions to ensure lasting improvements in state residents’ health.

“Historians attribute much of the 30-year life expectancy increase over the 20th century not just to the invention of drugs or new medical technology, but to social reforms,” said U.S. Rep. John Larson during his speech. “The eight-hour workday, a minimum wage and child labor laws are examples of these policy changes that have improved health. The index will guide decisions that focus on changes in policy to address local needs.”

About the Connecticut Association of Directors of Health, Inc.

The Connecticut Association of Directors of Health, Inc. (CADH) is a not-for-profit organization committed to building our public health infrastructure to provide local communities with the public health services they need. Its mission is to provide a basis for local directors of health to work together to strengthen and assure the efficient and effective delivery of public health services at the local level throughout the state. CADH’s membership consists of health directors who represent Connecticut’s 169 towns, including both health departments and districts. For more information, visit www.cadh.org .

About CADH and the Center for Public Policy and Research at CCSU

The Center for Public Policy & Social Research (CPPSR) at CCSU is supporting a project in which students from two graduate-level psychology courses will work with CADH to create community engagement activities around the issue of health inequities. In doing so, students will have the opportunity to practice specific skills they have learned as part of these particular courses, as well as in other graduate courses in the MA program. CPPSR is seeking to enhance its collaboration with CADH by providing other applied research services for this critical public policy issue facing our state.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. For further information, please visit the Foundation’s Web site at www.wkkf.org.

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