The Health Equity Project has the specific aim of improving access to quality care for expecting and parenting mothers of diverse ethnic groups by targeting health care and education professionals as systems for change within the southeastern region of North Carolina. This project will be led by an interdisciplinary team from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke's social work, nursing, and kinesiology departments. This project is funded by a grant through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
This project is aimed at reaching the following populations:
- Expecting/parenting mothers
- Medical professionals and students
- Mental health professionals (Social workers and counselors) and students
- Community members who are interested in learning more about what the project will be offering
As part of this project, we plan to reach our goal to improve the quality of maternal and infant health care by:
- Developing and implementing a training to address how educators, mental health professionals, and medical professionals can help reduce implicit bias towards pregnant/parenting mothers in practice
- Hosting interactive workshops that will offer continuing education credits to help healthcare professionals and educators increase racial equity
- Providing "training the trainer" certifications to our health and education focused community partners in Robeson county
- By creating shareable information here to increase awareness about maternal health care access and health equity
If you are interested in becoming a community partner and to learn more about the Train-the-Trainer opportunities, contact Dr. Susan Edkins at susan.edkins@uncp.edu.