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.

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.