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Category: Research for Action

Improving Health Care Workforce Wellness: A Pilot to Reduce EMR Burden

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Improving Health Care Workforce Wellness: A Pilot to Reduce EMR Burden

IPHI empowers primary care physicians serving under-resourced communities in Washington, D.C., by partnering with DC Health as a grant intermediary. Funds distributed by IPHI to primary care physicians will be used to purchase assistive technology for electronic medical records (EMR) systems, easing provider burden and reducing burnout. This project will collect data to assess the effectiveness of these technology interventions.

Empower Yourself, Empower Your Practice

Applying for a grant through IPHI and DC Health can help bring cutting-edge healthcare technology to your community. Assistive technology for EMR systems can reduce administrative burden and decrease documentation time. Grants also cover staff time to train and implement the technology. Scroll down to learn more about the grant opportunity, and submit your application today!

The application period has now closed as of Friday, July 26, at 8 pm ET. All required documents were due by this deadline. Applications are currently under review and grants will be awarded to eligible applicants until all available funds have been exhausted

HELPFUL DOCUMENTS

We’ve included information to help guide your grant submission below.

RESOURCES

Partners

 

Contact IPHI at [email protected] if you need technical assistance with the application.

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Supporting Maryland Organizations Address Health Disparities

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Supporting Maryland Organizations Address Health Disparities

IPHI will collaborate with Maryland Nonprofits from July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024, through a CDC-funded grant.

The IPHI and Maryland Nonprofits partnership will support Maryland’s community-based organizations, faith-based organizations (C/FBO), and local health departments (LHD) in addressing the social determinants of health (SDoH). This partnership will utilize partner networks, experiences, and a repository of tools and resources to support capacity-building efforts.

Strategy Overview:

1. Assessment

  • Conduct a thorough assessment of Maryland’s LHDs and C/FBOs to identify their strengths and capacity needs in addressing SDoH and promoting health equity.
  • Use surveys, focus groups, and listening sessions to understand organizational needs.

2. Training

  • Offer various online educational resources, including toolkits, equity assessment guides, on-demand learning events, recorded webinars, and newsletters.
  • Plan and arrange workshops on specific topics, like the “Healthy and Equitable Communities” workshop.
  • Plan a monthly 90-minute webinar series covering CBO/Nonprofit capacity.

3. Communities of Practice

  • Organize up to five forums to share resources, best practices, and real-time project implementation feedback.
  • These forums may discuss regional strategies to support health equity programming through workforce development.
  • Participants can set agendas tailored to their needs and be acknowledged as subject matter experts.

4. Tailored Technical Assistance

  • Provide support across various topic areas, prioritizing by assessment results and demand.

This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with 100 percent funding provided by CDC/HHS.

The state (Maryland Dept of Health) is supporting this project and is funded by the CDC RFA OT21 2103 Grant, National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities, for the provision of technical assistance and capacity building services to Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Faith-Based Organizations (FBO’s), and Local Health Departments (LHDs).

To learn more about IPHI supporting organizations addressing health disparities, please contact Senior Program Director Carolyn Padovano at [email protected].

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Food Security Report

Title "Prince George's County Food Security Task Force Recommendations 2021" over a background image of crops growing from the ground.

Food Security Report

IPHI, Prince George’s County Food Security Task Force, and Prince George’s County Food Equity Council (FEC) completed a report to address the county’s food-security challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report recommends 11 solutions (four foundational and seven general strategies) for the Prince George’s County Council, Office of the County Executive, and County agencies to adopt.

To download the report, click: here.

To view the executive summary of the report and recommendations, click: here.

 

Foundational Recommendations

  1. Create and fund a Prince George’s County Food Security Office.
  2. Gather, analyze, and use data to inform and drive County agency food security decisions.
  3. Increase resident participation in federal nutrition assistance programs.
  4. Develop a master communication strategy for food security, resilience, and emergency preparedness.

Food Security Policies and Programs Recommendations

  1. Plan for future food security disruptions by developing an emergency food security plan that integrates food system experts into existing emergency management operations.
  2. Increase access to bulk food purchasing, infrastructure, and resources for food assistance providers.
  3. Co-locate food security and social safety net services to create closed-loop referral systems.
  4. Improve transportation options for residents to access healthy food retailers and providers.
  5. Leverage state and regional partners for cross-jurisdictional food systems planning, coordinated communication, and infrastructure development.
  6. Provide land access, infrastructure, and resources to help agriculture flourish.
  7. Continue to provide and expand market incentives to support healthy food retailers of multiple sizes in target communities.

Dan River Region Health Equity Report

Photo by: The Gender Spectrum Collection.

Photo by: The Gender Spectrum Collection. View the guidelines: here.

Dan River Region Health Equity Report

IPHI has partnered with The Health Collaborative, Centra, Sovah Health – Danville, and Danville Regional Foundation to publish the Dan River Region’s first Health Equity Report.

This is a sunset initiative (no longer active).

In 2017, these community partners collaborated to collect data, engage residents, identify common themes, and analyze trends to better understand the region’s health status.

As part of a larger community health needs assessment, the map-based report provides critical insight into the many factors influencing the community’s health. The report’s findings have been presented in the region through a series of workshops, presentations, and community findings.

 

To download the Dan River Region full Health Equity Report, click: here.

 

RVA Breathes

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RVA BREATHES

IPHI partnered with the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Department of Psychology to implement of RVA Breathes. This program was a six-year NIH-funded research grant to assess the impact of evidence-based interventions on families with a child with uncontrolled asthma in Richmond, Virginia.

This is a sunset initiative (no longer active).

Richmond, VA, is consistently ranked one of the most challenging places to live in the United States for those diagnosed with asthma.

This study sought to identify interventions to help Richmond-based families manage their child’s asthma. Working in partnership with a team of Healthy Homes Assessors from the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD), IPHI community health workers (CHW) conducted home visits with families with a child with uncontrolled asthma. The team provided education on asthma self-management, establishing a medical home, identifying environmental triggers, and techniques to reduce asthma attacks. The team helped families identify and navigate resources to address health-related social needs.

The final post-intervention visits and data analysis remain ongoing, but current outcomes of interest include reduced emergency department utilization, unnecessary hospitalization, and increased school attendance and medication usage. Preliminary results showed:

  • Caregivers gained the confidence to manage asthma attacks and talk to their children’s doctors and school personnel.
  • Children became comfortable with talking about asthma with their parents and doctors.
  • Caregivers reported developing new strategies to improve medication adherence.
  • Caregivers frequently discussed the invaluable psychosocial support the CHW and Healthy Homes teams provided. Having someone to discuss challenges and fears helped to manage stress. Children felt supported in addressing challenges.

After this project, the VCU and RHHD teams worked together to develop a community-based asthma program model. With more flexibility and adaptability, the community-based program model is well-suited to meet parents where they are. Recognizing the pilot’s success, research project results, and the importance of sustaining this resource, RHHD has agreed to continue this intervention starting June 2022.

To learn more about RVA Breathes, please contact Senior Program Manager Rebecca Epstein at [email protected].

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Prince George’s Fresh

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Prince George’s Fresh

Prince George’s Fresh is a pilot fruit and vegetable coupon benefit program designed to increase access to healthy food in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Through a collaborative partnership between IPHI, Giant Food, Amerigroup, Anthem Foundation, and the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Workgroup of the Prince George’s Healthcare Action Coalition, Prince George’s Fresh will increase healthy food access for Prince George’s County residents. The program allows medical professionals at participating health clinics to recommend produce coupons and nutrition education to patients experiencing food insecurity. Prince George’s Fresh is an innovative opportunity to engage cross-sectoral partners in an evidence-based model to address County health disparities and food insecurity. For Prince George’s Fresh fact sheet, click: here.

In fall 2023, Prince George’s Fresh completed an evaluation report on “A Pilot of a Food as Medicine.” To view and download the report, click: here.

To learn more about Prince George’s Fresh, please contact [email protected].

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Cameron Foundation Community Health Needs Assessment

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Community Health Needs Assessment

The Cameron Foundation in Petersburg, VA, partnered with IPHI to update its community health needs assessment (CHNA). The most recent assessment was developed in spring 2023.

The assessment provides a comprehensive review of demographic, socioeconomic, physical environmental, and health indicators, and includes jurisdiction-level forces of change analyses and a summary of existing services and resources in the foundation’s service areas. IPHI led the collection, analysis, and reporting of health indicators, which include clinical and behavioral risk factors, County Health Rankings from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, health outcomes, and life expectancy maps.

IPHI worked with the foundation to frame the report using a health equity lens to link demographics, environmental and socioeconomic factors (e.g., social determinants of health-SDOH) to overall health outcomes and inequities between populations, neighborhoods, and jurisdictions. Among other data in the report, IPHI integrated the Vulnerable Populations Footprint from the Community Commons and census tract life expectancy maps to visually demonstrate the link between adverse SDOH and short life span at the neighborhood level.  IPHI added evidence-based recommendations to guide communities in using the assessment.

To learn more about the Cameron Foundation’s community health needs assessment, please contact [email protected] or visit: www.camfound.org/.

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Community Health Improvement Planning

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Community Health Improvement Planning

The community health improvement plan (CHIP) is a collaborative process to identify trends, needs, and resources in a community or jurisdiction and develop action plans for community health improvement.

 

Our framework for community health improvement work defines health broadly and recognizes that health and well-being are affected by the conditions and circumstances in which people live, age, work, learn, and play.

Our commitment to the belief that all people and communities have the right to achieve and maintain good health fuels the passion we bring to the work.

Our approach to the community health improvement process includes these key components:

  • Coalition-building among public and private community partners;
  • Grassroots community engagement;
  • Data collection and analysis to identify community health needs, inequities, strengths, and assets; and
  • Development, implementation, and evaluation of action plans that include common goals, a shared system of measuring outcomes, and proven interventions.

We are uniquely positioned to assist with this important assessment and planning work. We have the organizational capacity and staff skills, and experience to contribute by:

  • Serving as a neutral convener to  engage community partners and residents;
  • Collecting, analyzing, and presenting community health data in an understandable and meaningful way;
  • Facilitating health issue prioritization and action planning; and
  • Providing technical assistance for action plan implementation and evaluation.

To view and download the CHIP overview, click: here.

To learn more about community health improvement planning, please contact [email protected].

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Health Equity Consultant for Nemours Foundation

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Health Equity Consultant for Nemours Foundation

In August 2021, IPHI extended its partnership with Nemours Children’s Health System for a fourth year. IPHI will continue to serve as an equity consultant for Nemours’ CDC-funded Healthy Kids, Healthy Future (HKHF) initiative.

Healthy Kids, Healthy Future logo

 

HKHF partners with state-level early care and education (ECE) coalitions of agencies and organizations integrating obesity prevention policies and systems into ECE settings.

IPHI will continue to provide core equity training to state-level coalitions throughout the nation. The training uses a 16-hour Healthy and Equitable Communities (HEC) curriculum, then provides follow-up technical assistance to support integrating equity tools and concepts into coalition strategies. IPHI will work with up to seven states through HKHF on the following:

  • Health Equity Research / Data
  • Coalition Building and Support
  • Survey Design / Development
  • Strategic Planning
  • Community Engagement
  • Equity Committee Development

IPHI supported Nemours HKHF with the following technical assistance :

  • Michigan and Florida –
    • Provided consultative services to advise on the logistics and communications needed to coordinate each state’s Healthy and Equitable Communities Workshop sessions. IPHI coordinated participant registrations via IPHI’s Learning Hub system and distributed pre- and post-assessment surveys to assess participant knowledge levels around various equity topics. After the workshops, IPHI provided a comprehensive training report summarizing data from the workshop sessions and providing recommendations for future improvements.
  • Kansas –
    • Provided consultation on the development of a position description for a newly created Equity Consultant role. IPHI leveraged best practices for job descriptions to co-create an accurate and detailed position description in collaboration with our client partner.
  • Alabama –
    • Attended several strategic planning discussions to assess the needs to support re-assembling their member coalition. Discussions centered around potential technical assistance support areas, including the development of a member survey, assistance with a strategic plan, coalition re-engagement strategies, and expanding diversity of coalition members.
  • Pennsylvania Keystone Kids Go (KKG) –
    • Reviewed prior member survey data and advised the development of an enhanced member survey to embed an equity focus. IPHI evaluated the client’s mission, values statement, and strategic plan and advised on opportunities to increase emphasis on equity language and methods. Provided guidance on methods to engage additional coalition members, ensuring representation from diverse organizations. IPHI assisted our client with developing a steering committee and advised on plans for the re-engagement of their coalition members. Also developed plans for the KKG’s annual member meeting. For the annual meeting, IPHI developed presentation materials and facilitated consensus discussions to ensure a path forward in building equity into their strategic plan.

ImmunizeVA

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IMMUNIZEVA

Immunize Virginia is a statewide coalition of immunization stakeholders representing medical, public health, nonprofit professionals, parents, and community leaders in Virginia.

 

ImmunizeVA logo

 

Our diverse membership is united in its commitment to the coalition’s vision of a future where the quality and length of life of Virginians are not impacted by a disease that could have been prevented by immunizations.

Together, members work to improve immunization coverage across the Commonwealth in four key areas:

  1. Advocacy
  2. Education
  3. Professional Education
  4. Quality Management

Since it was established in 2020, the coalition has supported the implementation of vaccine clinics in historically under-vaccinated communities, launched social media campaigns to spread awareness about pressing vaccine issues, supported education initiatives surrounding immunization legislation, facilitated numerous presentations for medical and public health professionals on immunizations, and collected timely data on pressing vaccine issues. IPHI serves as the backbone support for ImmunizeVA.

To learn more about ImmunizeVA, please contact [email protected] or visit: immunizevirginia.org.

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