The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin recently awarded $2.1 million to five initiatives aimed at improving health in communities around the state.
The initiatives were selected for their promise in advancing policy and systems change to address some of the state’s most pressing health issues, including suicide prevention, shelter for vulnerable women, immunizations, safe prescriptions and child care resources.
“Each of these initiatives are working to address important health issues in very different communities with diverse needs across Wisconsin,” said Christina Ellis, program director at the AHW Endowment. “But they all share a commitment to improving health through partnerships with a focus on policy and systems change.”
The initiatives include:
- $349,886 to help Milwaukee women in street-based sex work find safe shelter and housing. A partnership with the Benedict Center, MCW and Continuum of Care, among others, the three-year award will change policies and protocols to increase access to safe shelter and housing for women in street prostitution to reduce the risk of violence and injury.
- $446,063 to prevent medication errors for Wisconsin residents resulting from misread labels. A partnership between Wisconsin Literacy, Inc. and MCW, the three-year award will continue work to create a statewide standard that will help patients and their families safely take medications.
- $419,691 to reduce suicide in Fond du Lac County. This three-year award will work with the Fond du Lac School District, Comprehensive Service Integration and MCW to help create a coordinated county-wide system to address suicide among 40- to 54-year-old men, the demographic group that experiences the highest suicide rates in Wisconsin.
- $489,121 to expand immunization services for Wisconsin families through partnerships with community pharmacies across the state. A partnership between the Wisconsin Pharmacy Foundation and MCW, the award will use the next two-and-a-half years to expand access to immunizations by developing a consistent vaccination protocol and training for pharmacist-provided vaccines offered at community pharmacies, in an effort to increase immunization rates and reduce the prevalence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the state.
- $399,808 to improve children’s health and care services in Monroe and Vernon Counties. The initiative will bring child care programs into a network of shared services for families across the region. In addition, the project will connect children to medical homes, while embedding developmental screenings and support for families early in a child’s development.
