Detroit’s infant mortality rate of nearly 15 deaths per 1,000 births is among the highest in the nation. In response, the “Women-Inspired Neighborhood Networks”, or called (WIN Network: Detroit) is now working with Detroit’s major health systems as well as public health groups and academic and community partners to help reduce the infant mortality rate.
The project received a $300,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and from Local funding partnerships. Local funding partners for the $2.6 million project include the Kresge Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Detroit Medical Center, Henry Ford Health System, Oakwood Healthcare System, St. John Providence Health System, University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the PNC Foundation.
The plan is to tighten a loose net of disconnected and disjointed medical and social services throughout the city. The hope is to build a comprehensive accountable system of care that will help the residents of three Detroit neighborhoods improve conditions to help infant survival through the first year of life.
Trained community health workers called Community and Neighborhood Navigators work with program participants to secure services and resources based on individual needs. Pregnant women are supported with home visits and receive guidance on prenatal care. The navigators connect women to resources that address specific needs in education, employment, housing, food access, and other social factors influencing health.
The WIN Network: Detroit also provides educational sessions to more than 500 physicians, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare professionals in Detroit’s major health systems. The continuing education sessions focus on healthcare equity, awareness of health disparities, and provide information on the network’s material and community resources.
Altarum Institute’s Palladian Partners a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of Altarum are partnering to provide communication tools and messaging to make this effort successful. The communication tools will support the recruitment of at-risk moms and inform and connect women with available resources.
For more information, go to www.altarum.org.