Community health workers as change agents in improving equity in birth outcomes in Detroit.

We examined whether pairing pregnant women with community health workers improved pregnancy outcomes among 254 Black women with singleton pregnancies participating in the Women-Inspired Neighborhood (WIN) Network: Detroit using a case-control design. A subset (N = 63) of women were recontacted and asked about program satisfaction, opportunities, and health behaviors. Michigan Vital Statistics records were used to ascertain controls (N = 12,030) and pregnancy and infant health outcomes. Logistic and linear regression were used to examine the association between WIN Network participation and pregnancy and infant health outcomes. The WIN Network participants were less likely than controls to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (odds ratio = 0.55, 95% CI 0.33-0.93) and had a longer gestational length (mean difference = 0.42, 95% CI 0.02-0.81). Community health workers also shaped participants' view of opportunities to thrive. This study demonstrates that community health workers can improve pregnancy outcomes for Black women.

Community-based participatory research: a capacity-building approach for policy advocacy aimed at eliminating health disparities.

There have been increasing calls for community-academic partnerships to enhance the capacity of partners to engage in policy advocacy aimed at eliminating health disparities. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a partnership approach that can facilitate capacity building and policy change through equitable engagement of diverse partners. Toward this end, the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center, a long-standing CBPR partnership, has conducted a policy training project. We describe CBPR and its relevance to health disparities; the interface between CBPR, policy advocacy, and health disparities; the rationale for capacity building to foster policy advocacy; and the process and outcomes of our policy advocacy training. We discuss lessons learned and implications for CBPR and policy advocacy to eliminate health disparities.