Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Disparities: Year Two of Implementation

Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Disparities: Year Two of Implementation
December 20, 2024

People from all walks of life can experience health disparities, including in rural and under-resourced areas in Iowa. These disparities, or differences in health status, are often characterized by indicators such as higher rates of disease, disability, and mortality, along with lower life expectancies and increased chronic pain. In response, Iowa’s community health centers (CHCs) are focused on reducing these disparities to improve health outcomes and enhance the well-being of people where they live, work, and grow.

The Iowa Primary Care Association and Iowa’s community health centers are collaborating, with generous funding support from MolinaCares, on the Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Disparities (AHEAD) initiative, an initiative working to address health disparities in Iowa communities. The second year of implementation (May 2024-June 2025) is underway with designated network-wide and local strategies as part of the strategic implementation plan.

Local Strategy Highlights

  • At the local level, community health centers are focused on strategies to strengthen and train the healthcare workforce, amplify community voice through their Boards and Patient Committees, standardize the capture and reporting of drivers of health data, and address these identified needs of their patients.
  • Health Equity Champions (HECs) continue to be an integral part of our success, helping to understand and build support around disparities and health equity-related work that reflects their patients and local communities. 

Network-led Strategy Highlights

  • The Iowa PCA supports the efforts of community health centers through monthly training and technical assistance programs to enhance CHC services and operations, including workforce recruitment and retention, learning and development practices, as well as by identifying goals to reduce disparities in focused health areas.
  • The Iowa PCA hosts the annual Iowa Community Health Conference, providing attendees with learning experiences about rural healthcare and community health topics. Funding from MolinaCares was utilized this year to support health equity-related topics at the conference.

As we wrap up 2024, we celebrate the many wins along the way, including the continued engagement of Health Equity Champions across Iowa’s community health centers, the impactful training and education across the network to affect patient care and health outcomes, and our strong partnership with MolinaCares as we collectively work to provide quality affordable and accessible primary and preventive healthcare to meet local community needs.

More in this category: « Congratulations to Our 2024 Annual Award Winners!
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