Connecticut Health Foundation Awards Granted To New Haven Agencies

NEW HAVEN, CT — With grants from the Connecticut Health Foundation, seven hospital systems and community health centers will conduct community listening sessions, establish patient advisory boards, and undertake other activities designed to improve how they collect and analyze data on patients’ race, ethnicity, and preferred language.

Having accurate data on race, ethnicity, and language preference – known as REL data – is critical to identifying and addressing population-level gaps in care and outcomes, according to the Connecticut Health Foundation.

A state law passed in 2021 requires health care providers to collect this data from patients in a standardized way.

To help ensure that this requirement is implemented effectively and that the data is used to identify and address health inequities, the Connecticut Health Foundation convened a group of health care providers, state agencies, community organizations, and others, to work through issues related to data collection, it's noted in a news release.

The grantees are participants in this process, which is being facilitated by the Yale Equity Research and Innovation Center and the Yale Global Health Leadership Initiative.

"While collecting data might sound simple, doing it effectively can require staff training to assure that health care workers understand why it’s important to ask about race and ethnicity and how to do so, and making sure that patients understand why they’re being asked and feel comfortable providing the information," the CHF noted. "Collecting the data can also require changes in electronic records systems and workflow."

“As health care providers begin asking about race, ethnicity, and language preference on a more regular basis, it’s important that patients are asked the questions in a way they will feel comfortable answering,” Connecticut Health Foundation CEO Tiffany Donelson said. “It’s critically important for community members to be part of informing how this data is collected and how it’s used. We’re thrilled that so many health care providers are committed to implementing this new requirement in a thoughtful way.”

The New Haven grantees are:

Yale New Haven Health System, New Haven: $50,000

Yale New Haven Health System plans to engage employees, patients, and community members on how to best implement REL data collection and assure that patients understand how data will be used. The health system also plans to return to community members when data finds disparities, to identify ways to address inequities and co-design goals. This funding will also support the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate communications materials about race, ethnicity, and language data, informed by community member feedback.

These grants complement a grant recently awarded to Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut, or CONECT, an interfaith organization that is conducting a community education campaign about race, ethnicity, and language data in health care.

These grants are among 24 awarded by the Connecticut Health Foundation in the fourth quarter of 2022, totaling nearly $1.17 million. The others earmarked for New Haven are:

Media Grant

Yale New Haven Health System, New Haven: $10,000

This grant will support the Yale New Haven Health System’s Office of Health Equity in working with community members to gather feedback on health inequities to inform the health system’s health equity strategy. The community engagement efforts will include community conversations, focus groups, and feedback sessions, and the results will be used along with quantitative data to develop strategies for addressing health inequities.

Trusted messenger grants

Information is critical in a public health crisis and often, the messenger is as important as the message itself. Messages are far more effective when they are delivered by trusted sources, and the foundation has awarded grants to trusted messenger organizations since 2020. Most recently, the foundation awarded the following trusted messenger grants:

• Community Action Agency of New Haven, New Haven: $25,000

• Project Access of New Haven, New Haven: $25,000

About the Connecticut Health Foundation

The Connecticut Health Foundation is the state’s largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving health outcomes for people of color. Since its creation in 1999, the foundation has awarded more than $75 million to nonprofit organizations and public entities to expand health equity, reduce health disparities, expand health coverage, and improve the health of all Connecticut residents.