Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1526508
INTRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL GOVERNANCE ABOUT US Community Community Health Worker Health Worker Spotlight Spotlight PROVIDENCE HEALTH EQUITY FUND In 2023, Providence funded $3,484,309 in grants to support 23 initiatives that improve health equity in the communities we serve. The programs we supported include the following: PacMed Hypertension + Diabetes Control: This comprehensive care model integrates bilingual services from community health workers and pharmacists, reducing inequities among non-English-speaking people with hypertension and diabetes in the Metro Puget Sound Region in Washington. Oregon Community Teaching Kitchen: This community resource provides culturally responsive nutrition and gardening classes and diabetes education for Spanish- speaking patients. The initiative was published in the Journal of Nutrients and recognized for improving the health of participants. Alaska Community Health Workers: This group of trusted public health workers functions as a vital link between the community and the health care system. The group reduced emergency department visits by 33% over six months. JUST Birth Network: This initiative teams doulas, educators and cultural navigators with Black parents-to-be in Puget Sound, improving the birth experience for these patients. The program achieved reductions in c-section rates, including a nearly 6% reduction for patients who elect doula assistance, and was recognized as a national best practice by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Washington PACE Enrollments: This program deploys bilingual and bicultural outreach coordinators to build trusting patient relationships. It has increased PACE enrollments by 7% within racial and ethnic communities across King County. Community health workers have the unique opportunity to meet patients wherever they are on their health journey. The rundown van that Joe and Julia* shared in Alaska was their home, and illegal drugs were their comfort. Providence community health workers checked in on them periodically, bringing food and offers of help with long-term housing, but the couple wasn't ready. That changed abruptly for Joe when a drug- induced heart attack took Julia's life. Alone, grieving and ready to change, Joe reached out to the community health workers he had come to know. With their help, he started on Suboxone treatment and found a safe place to live. Today, Joe feels hopeful for the first time in more than a decade. Although he is still learning how to live without his partner or the substances he relied on for so long, he feels like a different man, he says. And if he ever feels himself slipping, he knows that he has a steadfast support system in the community health workers who have always been there for him. — Story shared by Rebecca Valentine, senior manager in Population Health, Alaska *Patient names were changed for privacy. Providence's health equity investments reduce barriers to care by opening up avenues for people in underserved communities to connect with community health workers. These front-line public health workers create trusting relationships that build vital bridges between community members and the health and social services they need. In 2023, 12 funded initiatives enabled Providence community health workers to touch the lives of more than 8,000 people. PROVIDENCE | ESG REPORT | 23