2451 - Case Study: How St. Louis, Missouri Is Mobilizing Hospitals, Public Health Departments and Residents to Promote a More Trauma-Informed Transportation System and Improve the Health of African American Mothers and Babies (Systems and Policy Change Strategy)

Abstract

2nd Highest Scoring Abstract: Practitioner Teresa is a strategic consultant with expertise in grant writing, project management and systems change. She will offer her unique perspective regarding the process of developing the BUILD Health Challenge grant proposal for Generate Health and FLOURISH St. Louis, the coordination and communications framework and infrastructure that was developed to support the project (a complex, multi-sector effort), how the systems-level work is conducted in tandem with the community mobilization strategy, and early results of the BUILD project. Seeking Funds: The St. Louis BUILD project is modeled on elements of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Race Equity Lens, Collective Impact and Trauma-Informed Community Building. Teresa will describe the process that was used to swiftly communicate the BUILD opportunity to stakeholders, solicit health system contributions, reach broad consensus on project elements, and finalize the proposal for submission. BUILD Project Structure: The project harnesses and aligns market, policy and community forces into a mutually reinforcing strategy that responds to the transportation access concerns voiced by local residents, addresses pragmatic tension points for health systems and managed care, and shifts upstream factors to reduce infant mortality. Teresa will discuss how the project uses work groups, backbone support and key partner leaders to drive decisions and report progress toward project objectives. Data Work Group The Data Workgroup is focused on understanding pathways and connections between transportation access and health. This group includes representatives of both county and city public health departments, hospital systems, county planning and transit authority, with consult from academic researchers. Teresa will discuss how the data work group was organized, managed and guided through an initial review of health indicators for transportation, a collaborative inventory of available and aspirational data relating to health and transportation access and prioritization of data needs. She will also discuss how the BUILD project was able to connect and catalyze ancillary efforts (e.g., pilot of rideshare innovations) and will demonstrate GIS maps that were developed by the St. Louis transit authority to support visualization of infant mortality data overlaid with public transportation access. Teresa will recap lessons learned from BUILD to date, including: (1) Work must be reflect community priorities and local context, and it takes time to take engage and co-create solutions with the community, (2) Investment in individual relationships and community mobilization expertise, along with the candor of project leadership, create the environment needed to remain nimble and responsive.