The awards, totaling $750,000, are part of a multi-year initiative now in its sixth year, funded by the Baxter Foundation – the philanthropic arm of Baxter International – and implemented by Direct Relief. The program supports community health centers and free and charitable clinics in developing programs that integrate nutrition education with chronic disease management and mental health services.

The following organizations will receive funding to support 18-month programs:

• Tampa Family Health Centers – Tampa, Florida – A federally qualified health center serving Tampa’s diverse communities, has launched a weight loss program using lifestyle medicine that integrates nutritional education, physical activity support, behavioral health counseling, and emotional wellness coaching.

• Faith Community Pharmacy – Newport, Kentucky – A charitable pharmacy serving low-income residents across the region has brought together multiple community partners to address barriers to implementing healthy habits and social determinants of health.

• Aaron E. Henry Community Health Services Center – Clarksdale, Mississippi – A community health center serving rural Mississippi Delta communities, started the Healthy Weight and Wellness Program, addressing critical health challenges, implementing innovative treatment, nutritional access, and education strategies.

• St. Vincent de Paul Charitable Pharmacy – Cincinnati, Ohio – A charitable pharmacy providing medication access to uninsured and underinsured patients, created a program that offers culturally and economically responsive education tailored to each patient’s lived experience, demonstrating an important step toward advancing health equity.

• NeoMed Center – Gurabo, Puerto Rico – A community health center serving rural Puerto Rico with both fixed and mobile health services, developed the Integrated Nutrition Prescription program targeting patients with chronic conditions, food insecurity, and behavioral health conditions.

Addressing Critical Health Disparities

Community health centers and free and charitable clinics serve as the medical home for over 36 million people living in medically underserved areas across the United States. Patients at these facilities experience significantly higher rates of multiple chronic conditions compared to the general population, with 35% higher chances of having at least one chronic condition and 31% higher odds of having two or more chronic conditions.

“Nutrition is fundamental to managing chronic disease, yet many people face significant barriers in accessing healthy food and nutrition education,” said Maris Steward, program manager & regional analyst at Direct Relief. “These awards enable safety net providers to develop innovative, culturally appropriate programs that address health disparities in their communities.”

Program Impact and Innovation

The Transformative Innovation Awards support integrated healthcare models that go beyond traditional clinical care. Awardees will leverage community partnerships to expand outreach and education, creating comprehensive approaches to chronic disease management that incorporate nutrition counseling and mental health services.

“At Baxter and through the Baxter Foundation, we recognize that effective healthcare extends far beyond clinic and hospital walls and to the everyday lives of people and patients,” said Verónica Arroyave, vice president of corporate responsibility and global philanthropy at Baxter and executive director of the Baxter Foundation. “By supporting community health centers in implementing nutrition-focused programs, we’re investing in innovative, sustainable approaches to address the social determinants of health and advance resiliency in the communities we serve.”

The post Direct Relief, Baxter Foundation Announce 2025 Transformative Innovation Awards in Community Health appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included therapies for rare disease management, prenatal vitamins, cold storage units for temperature-sensitive medications, diabetes management medications, personal protective equipment, and more.

U.S. Storm Response Continues

A steady cadence of medical support continues to depart for communities slammed by violent tornadoes this week, including in Missouri, Kentucky, and other parts of the United States.

In response to requests, medical aid departed this week for multiple health centers in St. Louis, including the People’s Health Centers in St. Louis, Missouri. The clinic received field medic packs, including medical essentials for triage care, to support mobile medical outreach in storm-impacted areas.

Tdap vaccines for people at risk of tetanus exposure during storm cleanup, diabetes test strips, and a mix of over-the-counter and chronic disease management medications were also shipped to the center.

Additional requests from CareSTL and Affinia Healthcare, two other community health providers in Missouri serving heavily impacted areas, departed this week and included essential medicines and supplies, tetanus vaccines, chronic disease medications, antibiotics, EpiPens, diabetes supplies, N95 respirators, and gloves. On Wednesday, personal care items, including soap, shampoo, and dental hygiene products, were shipped to facilities in Missouri to support displaced people.

Direct Relief will continue to support the critical work of community health centers, free clinics, and other first responders.

Medical Support Bound for the DRC

In response to ongoing conflict in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Direct Relief shipped a new delivery of emergency medical supplies and essential medications this week to support Jericho Road’s Wellness Clinic at New Hope Center in Goma.

Cardiovascular medications, wound care supplies, and other critical items requested by the clinic are en route to support the health center’s operations. The delivery builds on previous support from Direct Relief, including a $50,000 grant for Mpox response efforts and a $25,000 emergency grant to help sustain care after Goma’s capture by the M23 militia.

Direct Relief has supported Jericho Road’s work in the region since 2016 and remains committed to strengthening access to care.

Wildlife Resilience Gathering Held at Direct Relief

This week, Direct Relief hosted a convening of the Wildfire Resilience Funders Network at Direct Relief headquarters in Santa Barbara, California. The event included a panel titled “Funding Resilience in Recovery” that featured experts in the space, including Direct Relief’s Associate Director of U.S. Emergency Response Annie Vu.

The gathering brought together community leaders and supporters to discuss resilience and recovery strategies in response to wildfires in the U.S.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 567 shipments containing 703,966 doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 868,825 defined daily doses of medication, totaling 19,444 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR-TO-DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 11.6K shipments to 1,931 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 78 countries. These shipments included 105.7 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $940.4 million wholesale, totaling 1.8 million lbs.

The post Medical Aid Reaches Tornado-Impacted Communities in U.S. appeared first on Direct Relief.

In response to requests, medical aid departed on Tuesday for the People’s Health Centers in St. Louis, Missouri. Six field medic packs, including medical essentials for triage care, were shipped to the health center to support mobile medical outreach in storm-impacted areas.

Tdap vaccines for people at risk of tetanus exposure during storm cleanup, diabetes test strips, and a mix of over-the-counter and chronic disease management medications were also shipped to the center.

Additional requests from CareSTL and Affinia Healthcare, two other community health providers in Missouri serving heavily impacted areas, departed this week and included essential medicines and supplies, tetanus vaccines, chronic disease medications, antibiotics, EpiPens, diabetes supplies, N95 respirators, and gloves.

Affinia Healthcare CEO Kendra Holmes shared that clinic healthcare providers are working in the hardest hit areas to distribute hygiene kits, water, and other essentials to the community. Clinic staff are directing individuals to shelters and providing bus tickets for transportation.

Direct Relief will continue to support the critical work of community health centers, free clinics, and other first responders.

The post U.S. Tornado Response Continues As New Storms Loom appeared first on Direct Relief.

In Missouri, a tornado struck the St. Louis area, resulting in five deaths and damaging more than 5,000 buildings. Wind speeds reached 152 mph, and hail as large as 4 inches was reported. Hundreds of thousands remain without power as search, rescue, and recovery efforts continue.

Direct Relief Response

Direct Relief is supporting healthcare providers across the affected region with emergency medical aid. In Kentucky, where the toll has been most severe, Direct Relief is deploying emergency medical supplies to health facilities serving residents in and around Laurel County.

In Missouri, Direct Relief has coordinated closely with the Missouri Primary Care Association, which reached out on behalf of health centers in storm-affected communities. Three health centers have received Direct Relief’s emergency medical inventory, and shipments are already underway. Direct Relief has received requests for tetanus vaccines, diabetes treatment supplies, personal protective equipment, field medic packs to equip first responders for triage care outside of clinic walls, and more.

Direct Relief has also offered assistance to the Mobile Healthcare Association, based in St. Louis, and is actively coordinating with the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, or NAFC, and the National Association of Community Health Centers, or NACHC, to support health providers on the front lines.

Direct Relief’s support for the region predates the storm. In the past two weeks alone, Direct Relief delivered 27 shipments of medical aid to Missouri, valued at more than $344,000, and 24 shipments to Kentucky, valued at over $90,000. Direct Relief’s longstanding partnerships with local clinics and health centers help ensure a faster and more coordinated response.

As damage assessments continue and new needs arise, Direct Relief remains committed to expanding its response and delivering critical medical resources to those affected.

The post As Tornado Outbreak Devastates Multiple U.S. States, Direct Relief Mobilizes Response appeared first on Direct Relief.

Medications and supplies shipped this week included surgical supplies, pharmaceutical-grade refrigeration units for temperature-sensitive medications, antibiotics, prenatal vitamins, rare disease therapies, insulin, and more.

Health Fair in Puerto Rico Connects Women to Health Services

More than 100 people attended a health fair over the weekend in Puerto Rico, an event that not only provided essential health screenings but provided mentorship and training for medical residents.

As part of Direct Relief’s continuous needs assessments across communities on the island, staff identified several gaps in healthcare, including limited access to women’s health screenings, specialty medical services, and more. In conversation with NeoMed, a federally qualified health center serving the eastern region of the island, they identified over 1,000 women who had lapsed cervical cancer screening.

Direct Relief had been in communication with physicians from RWJ Barnabas Health System in New Jersey, who had expressed interest in coming to Puerto Rico to support community outreach efforts. To address this gap on routine checkups, RWJ made their OB-GYN physicians available to support a community health fair focused women’s health.

The team flew to Puerto Rico to participate in the community health fair held on February 22. Included in the team were Dr. Ernani Sadural, OBGYN, Dr. Daniel Sansobrino, OBGYN, Dr. Mike Drews, a reproductive endocrinologist, Belkis Ramírez, RN, and Margie Heller, Vice President of Community Health and Strategic Global Partnerships.

During the health fair, they met with second- and third-year residents from the University of Puerto Rico to share training on women’s health screenings, discuss best practices, and provide guidance and mentorship.

The health fair also included mammograms for breast cancer screening, vaccinations, primary health care, blood pressure and glucose measurements, and health education. Additionally, Direct Relief’s Medical Advisor, Dr. PJ Vázquez, visited home-bound patients.

Over 125 people attended the health fair, 57 women received cervical cancer screening, and 48 mammograms were scheduled for the upcoming weeks, and 13 home visits were conducted between Saturday and Monday.

Medical Aid Shipped in Response to Winter Storms

Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and surrounding areas of southern Appalachia are facing widespread devastation after torrential rain and an arctic blast swept through the region, leaving at least 22 people dead and thousands displaced. Beginning on February 14th, record-breaking rainfall triggered severe flooding, submerging entire communities and forcing emergency responders to conduct over 1,000 water rescues.

The situation worsened when an arctic blast followed the storms, trapping residents in freezing conditions without power. Many highways remain closed due to flooding, mudslides, and rockslides, making it difficult for people to access essential supplies, emergency services, and medical care.

In response, Direct Relief has provided emergency medical support to health centers, clinics, and other partner organizations in the affected areas. This week, tetanus vaccines, personal care products, and nutritional supplements were shipped to Big Sandy Health Care in Kentucky and St. Mary’s Health Wagon in Virginia to help meet urgent healthcare needs.

Resilient Power Panel Convenes at Direct Relief

Resilient power and its critical impacts on healthcare were the topics of an expert panel that convened at Direct Relief headquarters this week.

The discussion explored the essential role of power, energy, and light in fortifying healthcare resilience and featured leadership from four Santa Barbara-based nonprofits – Direct Relief, Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine, Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, and Unite to Light – all of which utilize reliable energy to power their respective missions. The panel, titled “Resilient Power for Healthcare: Illuminating the Energy-Health Connection,” was moderated by Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor Laura Capps.

Panelists included Sara Rossi, Direct Relief’s Managing Director of the Health Resiliency Fund, Maggie Sanchez, Executive Director, Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine, Dr. Jenna Tosh, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood California Central Coast, and Megan Birney Rudert, President & CEO, Unite to Light.

Direct Relief’s Power for Health Initiative has 22 completed resilient power projects at health centers and clinics across the U.S., and has more in various stages of design and construction.

“This really is complimentary to the other work that Direct Relief does 365 days a year with our community health center partners and free and charitable clinics to protect health, to protect refrigerated medicines, to enable their doors to stay open, and not have to lose any of that during more frequent power outages,” Rossi said.

Read more about Direct Relief’s Power for Health Initiative.

Operational Snapshot

UNITED STATES

Direct Relief delivered 488 shipments containing 1.7 million doses of medication during the past month to organizations, including the following:

Around the World

Globally, Direct Relief shipped over 8.1 million defined daily doses of medication totaling 67,103 lbs., to countries including the following:

YEAR TO DATE

Since January 1, 2025, Direct Relief has delivered 5,179 shipments to 1,402 partner organizations in 54 U.S. states and territories and 61 countries. These shipments included 57.6 million defined daily doses of medication, valued at $306.2 million wholesale, totaling 800,996 lbs.

The post Medications Depart for 19 Countries, Health Fair Reaches Patients in Puerto Rico appeared first on Direct Relief.

Many counties in Kentucky received multiple inches of rain over the weekend, and more than 1,000 water rescues were conducted. Hundreds of roads have been closed across the state due to the storm’s impacts, and emergency shelters have opened across the state for people without access to power or heat.

More winter weather is expected to sweep through the region on Tuesday, bringing significant amounts of snow, with some areas of Kentucky seeing as much as eight inches, and parts of Virginia may see as much as six inches.

In response to medical needs resulting from the storm, Direct Relief has offered support to multiple organizations, including the Kentucky Primary Care Association, as well as health centers and free clinics in the region.

The organization will respond as needs become known.

The post As Floodwaters Rise Across Multiple States, Direct Relief Offers Support appeared first on Direct Relief.

Editor’s note: This article is part of a joint editorial initiative between the National Association of Community Health Centers and Direct Relief.

Over the past year, patients who rely on Medicaid have been on a roller coaster of changing rules and requirements. More than 24 million people have been disenrolled from the public insurance program since March of 2023 — often without realizing it had happened — although many later regained their coverage.

Now, a new hurdle is emerging. People who currently have Medicaid have until the end of November to make the case that they should keep it. Documentation is daunting, and many underserved patients don’t know whether they’re eligible at all.

Health centers in the southeastern United States are working to overcome the challenges, helping patients understand the rules and navigate the process so that they don’t lose lifesaving coverage.

They’ve partnered with local governments for media announcements, opened enrollment services to non-health center patients, participated in community events, and made calls or shown up to patient appointments to talk about access to care.

A Shifting Landscape

The story behind the changes is a complicated one.

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, allowed continuous Medicaid enrollment for individuals and families. Even if someone wouldn’t be typically be eligible, they were allowed to continue receiving Medicaid coverage, no matter their socioeconomic status.

The end of that provisional coverage and the return of enforced eligibility standards, which began on April 1, 2023, is widely called “unwinding.”

Now, enrolled patients have until the end of November to submit documentation to determine future Medicaid status or find a new solution for healthcare coverage.

Some federally qualified health centers, whose patient bases typically include uninsured, underinsured and Medicaid-supported patients, expect a brunt financial hit as fewer people qualify for the government-funded program. Private practice physicians aren’t required to accept Medicaid patients and health centers receive a Medicaid reimbursement for certain services.

However, health centers say they’ll treat patients whether they are enrolled in Medicaid or not. Their biggest concern is the number of patients, especially those with chronic conditions, who won’t seek out medical care at all because they believe they no longer qualify for coverage.

A “Lag in Information”

In Florida, a state whose legislature has long fought against expanding access to Medicaid, health center staff fear that unwinding has made their patients more unsafe.

Sandra Algarin, outreach and marketing lead at Community Health Centers in Florida, said that without expanded access to Medicaid, patients are more likely to visit hospitals for emergency care, and refuse scheduled follow-ups and general preventative care with general practitioners at health centers because they (incorrectly) believe they can’t afford them.

Direct Relief has provided Community Health Centers in Florida with more than $700,000 in donated medication and medical supplies.

Algarin’s own family has struggled with lack of access to quality care the past year. Her mother, who has dementia, needed additional care. But while their household didn’t have the funds to pay out of pocket, they didn’t qualify for Medicaid support. Instead, Algarin had to bring her mother to work with her for months because hiring a caregiver wasn’t a possibility, she said.

Even in states where Medicaid has expanded, health center staff say it’s not enough.  

“There are absolutely still people who fall through the cracks,” said Ashley Shoemaker, of Louisville, Kentucky. “A lot of these people…are actually eligible, but they don’t know that they’re eligible or, now with the unwinding, they lost coverage. So, a lot of those are our most vulnerable populations.”

Shoemaker is the Director of Outreach and Enrollment at Family Health Centers, Inc. Kentucky expanded Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act with provisions that allow people to access a state health care plan. As of August 2024, about 1.5 million people in Kentucky are covered by Medicaid.

Direct Relief has provided Family Health Centers, Inc. with more than $100,000 in donated medication and medical supplies, ranging from treatments for heart disease and hemophilia to syringes and wound care items.

A certified Connector under the state health care plan, Shoemaker said the state took advantage of expanded access and introduced continuous coverage for children in 2023. However, she explained, people don’t necessarily know whether they qualify for coverage and may avoid making an appointment to see a physician due to a “lag in information.”

Sharing the Message

To keep people informed, FHC did a joint press conference with the Louisville mayor and makes routine appearances at local health fairs and community outings. The health center also offers an extended service: Whether or not someone is a patient there, they can walk in and receive a consultation on how the Medicaid rules apply to them.

Shoemaker said there are a lot of “happy tears,” when patients realize they can afford to visit the doctor: “A lot of people you know, they’re upset at first when they’ve lost their medical coverage…But when they find out that there is still affordable insurance available, it definitely eases some of those concerns.”

In states where Medicaid was expanded during the pandemic, health center employees are trying to find ways to share information with patients.

“The message that really gets through in our state is, ‘More Medicaid for more people,’” said Leslie Wolcott, director of communications at Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center in North Carolina. “What I tried to do is make sure that we are reconveying that message, more Medicaid for more people, [and] not complicating it. And then once people think, ‘Oh, more people qualify,’ then directing them to people that can help them put the application together and help get that [coverage].”

Direct Relief has provided Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center with more than $340,000 in requested medications and with grand funding exceeding $500,000 over the past five years.

North Carolina expanded Medicaid access in December of 2023, a few months after Medicaid unwinding was announced. Wolcott said staff contend with misinformation and “mixed messages” in their efforts to connect patients with health care coverage. The state even conducted market research to determine the best ways to communicate with the public about the issue, Wolcott said.

RCCHC patients can walk into the health center and work with staff on Medicaid forms. The health center uses the same QR code as the state to find Medicaid-related information and has a dedicated phone line for Medicaid questions.  Trained staff are also available at satellite sites to discuss Medicaid, including their school-based program and mobile unit.

Nesita Bishop, Business Office Coordinator at RCCHC, said their initial outreach included making calls to patients at home. She found that patients were closed off and unlikely to listen over a home phone call.

“I started (looking for) patients on our schedule that did not have any coverage and I would just go to that clinic on that day when they come in for their appointment,” said Bishop. “And while they’re waiting, I would just chat with them and get familiar with them. And then they were more willing to come in and talk to me,” she said.

Bishop said it’s difficult to determine whether their Medicaid numbers have increased or decreased as the unwinding period continues. However, she has noticed an uptick in women of childbearing age and single individuals who are looking for coverage.

Preventing “the Churn”

Wolcott said they’ve learned that it’s important to have staff available to work with patients on documents because it can also be an exhausting ordeal.

“It’s income-based and it’s a strange percentage of a person’s income,” she said. “And qualification is different depending on how many people are in their household. It’s all kinds of things so we don’t try to leave it up to the patients to figure out if they qualify or not.”

In the past, patients have experienced burnout contending with the annual application and the obscure financial rules that can disqualify them from the program. Wolcott said that the more patients they can prevent from the unwinding, the more likely patients are to continue preventative care.

“If you think about low-income people, you’re not always in the same job and you’re not always making the exact same amount of money,” she said. “So for Medicaid, when you get kicked off and then you’re back on you just stop trying because it’s such a hassle to get enrolled [with] a doctor again. And so one of the things expansion addresses is the churn, and more people can stay on without getting frequently kicked off.”

The post Medicaid Changes Roiled the Nation. Health Centers Are Smoothing the Path to Care Access. appeared first on Direct Relief.

These events are part of a larger cluster of extreme weather events across the U.S. that have marked the first half of 2024. Tornadoes, hail, heavy rain, and thunder have hit numerous communities in the Midwest and South. 

In response to the most recent batch of storms, Direct Relief has contacted Southern primary care associations and local partners to offer support. An emergency shipment is being shipped to Shades of Blue, a Houston-based partner focused on maternal and mental health needs. 

Medical needs are most commonly determined in the weeks following an extreme weather event when the full scale of the damage and required support becomes clear, rather than its immediate aftermath. Direct Relief will continue to communicate with local organizations and remain ready to meet health needs on the ground. 

Past extreme weather events have taught that interruptions to care are particularly dangerous. People living with chronic diseases like hypertension, asthma, and diabetes often lose or are forced to evacuate without their lifesaving medications, and can end up experiencing a deadly medical crisis if these conditions go untreated. 

For these reasons, Direct Relief keeps a cache of essential medications often requested after disasters, as well as personal care items often requested for people displaced from their homes. These medications and supplies are routinely offered to on-the-ground partners responding to or affected by natural disasters and other crises. 

Direct Relief also committed $250,000 to support healthcare needs in Texas’s Harris County area last week and provided medical aid after deadly tornadoes struck the Midwest last month. 

The post Extreme Weather Batters the U.S. Midwest and South  appeared first on Direct Relief.

Intense storms can prompt evacuations, and people can find themselves in medical crisis if they evacuate without critical medications to manage their health. Direct Relief maintains a medical inventory of medications commonly requested after disasters, and will respond to requests for aid.

Tornado Destroys Homes, Damages Medical Supply Plant

On Thursday afternoon, an EF3 tornado with winds of up to 150 miles per hour touched down near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, damaging homes and infrastructure across three counties.

A Pfizer plant in Rocky Mount sustained significant damage, and the facility produces nearly 25 percent of all sterile injectables used in U.S. hospitals. The facility produces a wide range of products, including anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers, according to the company’s website. All employees at the plant were reported safe, and “we are assessing the situation to determine the impact on production,” the company said in a statement.

In response to the tornado’s impacts on the community, Direct Relief has connected with the North Carolina Primary Care Association, the North Carolina Free Clinic Association, and several health centers in the northeastern region of North Carolina.

Kentucky Flooding Prompts Swift Water Rescues

Storms also swept through southern Illinois, western Kentucky and western Tennessee on Thursday, with western Kentucky being the area that was hardest hit. Mayfield, Kentucky, was among the hardest hit during the storm, and set a new 24-hour rainfall record in Kentucky with over 11 inches of rain in the past 24 hours.

Mayfield was the site of a devastating EF4 tornado in Dec. 2021 that destroyed the town and killed 57 people. This week, high-water rescue crews pulled people from flooded homes and vehicles throughout the region, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency for the affected area.

Direct Relief is communicating with the Kentucky Primary Care Association and the Mayfield Health Center (ARCare) that Direct Relief assisted after the 2021 tornado with medical aid and emergency funding.

Direct Relief will respond to requests for medical aid as they become known.

The post Summer Storms Continue with North Carolina Tornado, Kentucky Flooding appeared first on Direct Relief.

Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky (PPGNHAIK) has two brick-and-mortar health clinics in Kentucky – one in Louisville and one in Lexington – “but we know this isn’t sufficient,” said Steven Conrad, PPGNHAIK’s institutional giving officer. Many patients lack the transportation needed to easily travel a long distance to a clinic, don’t have time, or don’t have the child care needed to make it to an appointment.

Conrad reported that 76 of Kentucky’s 120 counties have no OB/GYNs.

For people who need birth control, getting to a local clinic may not even be a desirable option. Their parents or a friend’s parents may work there, or they may just feel concerned about whom they might encounter in the waiting room.

“Sometimes folks in rural areas only have access to one county health clinic, and they may not feel comfortable going to that clinic for birth control,” Conrad said. “We sometimes hear from patients that they forego reproductive health services due to fear of judgment.”

PPGNHAIK decided to think outside the box, with an increased focus on providing virtual appointments to Kentucky patients with a clinician through their Planned Parenthood Direct app.

In many states, the Planned Parenthood Direct app, which launched in 2017 and has more than 320,000 enrolled users, can provide birth control, emergency contraception, and UTI treatments. In Kentucky, the only service currently available is birth control, although PPGNHAIK is working to change that.

Through Direct Relief’s Community Health Awards, funded by Bayer, PPGNHAIK is working to expand awareness and access to patients seeking birth control in Kentucky, with the goal of doubling the number of Kentuckians receiving contraceptive care through the Planned Parenthood Direct app. The organization is one of three that received $50,000 to expand creative programs that remove barriers to reproductive health care in underserved communities. The Community Health Awards are currently in their second year; first-year awardees are profiled here.

“This generous grant from Direct Relief will support PPGNHAIK’s efforts to increase awareness of and access to telehealth services, which is critical to providing sexual and reproductive health care in communities facing the most barriers to care,” said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of PPGNHAIK, in a statement.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 47% of Kentucky’s pregnancies are unintended. Conrad explained that teen birth – Kentucky has the fourth-highest rate in the country – and unintended pregnancies increase the rate of childhood poverty and can perpetuate poverty over generations.

That’s particularly problematic in Kentucky, which is among the poorest states in the U.S., with a poverty rate of 16.3%. Poverty rates for women are even higher, and the country has the fourth-highest teen birth rate in the country.

“Through the Planned Parenthood Direct app, we can…provide the same quality care that [patients] would receive at a health center visit. We want every patient – no matter where they are – to be able to stay healthy and reach their life goals,” Conrad said.

In particular, he explained, the pandemic has shown the importance of providing virtual access to contraception in rural areas.

The app isn’t intended to replace in-person exams, and clinicians still counsel patients on the importance of getting preventative care. “This can be a challenge with some patients who like the comfort of telehealth services, getting them in the clinic for preventative care and continuing to follow up with those services needed,” said nurse practitioner Deborah Dlik, who provides virtual care in Kentucky through Planned Parenthood Direct.

Still, Conrad said, it’s an effective part of the picture: “PP Direct can help countless Kentuckians take control of their reproductive lives.”

Learning from local sources

Dr. Caroline Weinberg has learned a lot from launching a mobile reproductive health clinic in rural Mississippi.

“If someone had given me $1 million the day I had the idea…it wouldn’t have been a good program that was a part of the community,” she said. “You do really need that time to get to know the community.”

Weinberg was drawn to Mississippi because of its maternal health outcomes – for example, the state has approximately 33 maternal deaths per 1,000 live births, nearly twice the national average – but quickly found that providing sexual, reproductive, and primary care in a rural setting wasn’t going to be a straightforward enterprise.

“The fact that I was not from Mississippi was a barrier, and a totally legitimate one,” she said, citing a long history of “people shoving local perspectives to the side to think that they could solve every problem.”

Through conversations – often over meals – with members of local communities, she learned some indispensable lessons: Hire local, but not too local, because no one wants to run into a reproductive health provider at the supermarket. Confidentiality is everything, because sometimes clinic workers will talk – even though doing so is in violation of federal confidentiality requirements. Trusted local programs often don’t have an Internet presence. Don’t advertise that you’re offering birth control – instead, focus on whole-person wellness and primary care – “because if you do, everyone will know your business when you walk into the clinic.”

Today, the clinic provides sexual and reproductive health care, along with primary care, to people throughout rural Mississippi, often traveling to towns with populations as small as 170 people. “If you go to a town of 170 people and you see 10 people, you’ve done a really good job at outreach,” Weinberg said. “Sometimes we travel 100 miles to see 10 people, and that’s OK.”

Education is a major component of the work her team does. Weinberg gave the example of a man who came in with syphilis and was concerned it might turn into HIV/AIDS. Encouraging patients to get Pap smears and mammograms – Weinberg said many don’t bother, because they think they won’t be able to get the follow-up care that’s needed if something is wrong – is also essential.

And her team has grown accustomed to dealing with crisis situations: “Basically never a week goes by without someone coming in…with blood pressure high enough to go to the emergency room.” One patient came in with blood pressure of 220/110. The team got her to the emergency room immediately, then followed up with her.

Without the mobile clinic, many patients may not get care at all. In some cases, “you have to choose between getting food on the table or getting your kid to a doctor or getting yourself to a provider,” Weinberg said.

The grant from Direct Relief and Bayer will help Plan A try new things, like doing education in high schools and hiring a community health worker to present at events. “Part of the problem with operating on a shoestring, which a lot of mobile clinics do…is that there’s not a lot of room to experiment and see what works,” Weinberg said. “You’re worried about every dime.”

In addition, she thinks it will increase trust in the community, because they’ll be able to fulfill more needs. “We really hate saying no to people,” Weinberg said.

Creating a comfortable environment

For safety-net clinics in Oklahoma, providing sexual and reproductive health services means making patients comfortable, whether that means culturally responsive care, trauma-informed care, or simply creating a place where vulnerable patients feel willing to discuss an often uncomfortable subject.

The organization Health Alliance for the Uninsured (HAU) is working to make patients more comfortable in central Oklahoma clinics, as part of a larger collaborative project with the group Thrive OKC, a sexual health collective aimed at youth. The goal? To provide trainings to up to 30 medical staff and volunteers from 10 clinics, with the goal of improving the family planning services they provide.

The collaborative wants to “help providers to help their patients to navigate their reproductive choices,” said Dr. Ronneal Mathews, Thrive OKC’s director of community engagement. The trainings are designed to help providers “create spaces where, when adolescents do come in to access their services, it’s an environment that’s comfortable for them.”

In particular, HAU and Thrive OKC are focused on “walking clinicians through some really practical steps that they can take to make their clinics…more accessible for a younger audience.”

The training, called the One Key Question Certification Training, is built from an evidence-based curriculum by the organization Power to Decide. Mathews said the goal is for providers to begin by asking patients if they plan to become pregnant in the next year, and help patients make family planning decisions from there.  

Asked why Oklahoma in particular needed this intervention, Mathews explained, “It’s difficult in Oklahoma at this point in time for teens to find places where they can seek reproductive health services…it’s really important for them to provide care that is confidential…nonjudgmental and non-shaming.”

The post From a Digital App to Local Connections, Finding Creative Approaches to Reproductive Health Care appeared first on Direct Relief.

• In Kyiv, Ukraine, Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe attends a healthcare summit with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and other local organizations, and a child in a bomb shelter begins a lifelong battle against diabetes.
• In response to the extensive damage and loss of life caused by flooding in Kentucky, Direct Relief has committed an initial $250,000 to deploy emergency supplies and cover operational costs.
• Sri Lanka is experiencing economic collapse and medication shortages. Direct Relief recently provided emergency medical supplies, including 22 pallets of insulin, to the hard-hit country.
• Wildfires are blazing in California. In preparation, Direct Relief dispatched field medic packs to the California National Guard, and is in contact with local responders about ongoing needs.

Top Stories

An Initial $250,000 for Kentucky Relief

The situation: Dozens of people have been killed by catastrophic flooding in Kentucky, and health care in the affected area has been severely compromised. At least four clinic locations have been completely destroyed, and several more are without water and stable electricity. Tetanus shots, medications and equipment for diabetes, CPAP machines, and much more are needed immediately.

The response: Direct Relief is preparing shipments of emergency medical aid to a number of safety-net partners in Kentucky. Since January of 2022, the organization has provided more than $1.3 million in requested medical aid to health centers and clinics in the state. 

The impact: Direct Relief staff members are working with state and local organizations to determine and meet ongoing needs.

Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe Reports from Kyiv, Ukraine

Tighe attended a healthcare summit in Kyiv with the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and other local healthcare organizations to discuss urgent and long-term healthcare needs resulting from the war.

Earlier this week, Tighe was named by The Nonprofit Times to its 2022 Power and Influence Top 50. The NPT called Tighe “the epitome of Malcolm Gladwell’s connector from Tipping Point. He seems to know everyone. Tighe makes everyone feel as if their work is game-changing, which involves Direct Relief in everything from solar hubs to healthcare to equity around the world.”

A Child Confronts Diabetes in a Kyiv Bomb Shelter

The situation: One-year-old Polina developed diabetes in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. She is one of a number of children whose daily battle to survive is playing out at Ohmatdyt, Ukraine’s main children’s hospital.

The response: Humanitarian aid for Ukrainian patients with diabetes has been extensive. Since the invasion, Direct Relief has secured and delivered 733,800 insulin pen needles, 188,833 10 ml insulin vials, nearly 25,000 glucose meters with 400,000 test strips, and over 3.2 million oral diabetes tablets equivalent to almost 1.5 million daily defined doses.

The impact: A doctor at Ohmatdyt reported that there are currently sufficient supplies (including donated supplies) of insulin, blood glucose meters and testing strips at the hospital.

As Sri Lanka Experiences Medication Shortages, A Major Insulin Shipment Arrives

The situation: Sri Lanka imports more than 80% of its medical supplies, the Guardian reported. Economic collapse has meant the country is no longer able to import sufficient quantities of essential medicines.

The response: Direct Relief shipped medical supplies to the hard-hit country, including 22 pallets of insulin in partnership with Life for a Child.

The impact: The insulin, which is an annual supply for 212 children and young adults managing Type 1 diabetes, will be distributed to eleven hospitals and healthcare facilities around the country in coordination with the Sri Lanka College of Endocrinologists.

Preparing to Respond as Wildfire Season Sparks

The situation: California wildfires have already forced thousands to evacuate. Inevitably, these disasters create an increase in medical need, from direct effects like respiratory distress to the unmanaged chronic conditions and interrupted care that result from people having to flee.

The response: Wildfire preparation and response is part of Direct Relief’s ongoing work. A shipment of field medic packs was recently dispatched to the California National Guard, and Direct Relief is in contact with response agencies to assess and prepare for ongoing needs.

The impact: When an emergency such as a wildfire occurs, requests for medical assistance are often made in the days and weeks afterward, as health care providers, emergency response managers, and others on the ground take stock of medical needs. Direct Relief is prepared to meet a wide range of requests for medical support in the coming days and weeks.

In Brief

The United States

• Over the past two weeks, Direct Relief sent 558 shipments of medical aid to 401 partners in 45 U.S. states and territories, totaling $8.7 million in value and more than 9,687 pounds.
• A $50,000 grant is supporting mobile reproductive health care in rural Mississippi.
• Direct Relief has partnered with the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives to provide $50,000 in funding to support Black and Indigenous midwifery students. The funds will be used to assist with the cost of tuition, licensing, exam fees, and mentorship. 
• The organization has offered its support to California and federal public health agencies to assist with monkeypox vaccine distribution if needed, especially as the supply of vaccines becomes less restricted.
• A new CrisisReady tool called ReadyMapper is being used to increase health resilience during and in preparation for wildfires.
• Direct Relief has supported Native American causes with more than $500,000 in grants through its Fund for Health Equity and Covid-19 Fund.

Around the World

• Direct Relief has sent 36 shipments to 38 recipients in 18 countries over the past two weeks. The shipments totaled $42.5 million in value and more than 200,000 pounds.
• In support of the Jalisco region of Mexico, the organization traveled to Cabo Corrientes to distribute food kits to families who have recently been affected by heavy rains in the area.
• Shipments including Covid-19 therapy treatments, cardiovascular medications, antibiotics, and more recently departed Direct Relief’s warehouse in California, bound for Ukraine.

The post Global Update: Flooding in Kentucky, Sri Lanka’s Medication Shortages; Diabetes in Ukraine appeared first on Direct Relief.

A federal disaster declaration has been issued for the eastern Kentucky counties of Breathitt, Clay, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, Magoffin, Martin, Owsley, Perry, Pike, and Wolfe following the flooding, and 12 emergency shelters are currently operating with a total population of 300, as of Tuesday.

Access to clean water or electricity remains intermittent or nonexistent in some areas, and many roads in the area have been washed-out, with more than 40 bridges reportedly washed out in Jackson County alone.

Direct Relief’s Response

In response, Direct Relief has committed an initial $250,000 to facilitate the rapid deployment of emergency medical supplies and operating funds. The organization is coordinating with the Kentucky Primary Care Association, Kentucky VOAD, the Governor’s office, and several local health centers and free clinics around urgent health needs.

On Wednesday, Direct Relief prepared a requested shipment for Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation in Whitesburg, Kentucky, containing personal care items for displaced people, field medic packs for triage care, insulin, insulin syringes and needles, antibiotics, cardiovascular medications, mental health medications, respiratory medications, IV sets, and more.

Direct Relief is processing additional requests and will continue to respond as the situation develops.

Over the past 12 months, Direct Relief has shipped $1.4 million in medical aid to Kentucky and issued more than $150,000 in funding, including in response to last December’s tornadoes.

The post Emergency Update: Kentucky Flood Response appeared first on Direct Relief.

Direct Relief has extended offers of assistance to Kentucky-based organizations and agencies, including the Kentucky Primary Care Association.

At least four clinic locations have been completely destroyed in the flooding, and several are without water or stable electricity. Staffing is also a challenge as many healthcare employees have sustained substantial personal losses of property and vehicles.

Immediate medical supplies needed include:

• Hepatitis A shots
• Tetanus shots
• Insulin, glucometers, strips, constant readers, supplies
• Oxygen, concentrators, tanks, masks
• IV fluids and tubing
• Nebulizer tubing
• CPAP machines
• EPI pens

The organization maintains a standing inventory of medical aid frequently requested during emergencies. In the past year, the organization has responded to crises from Louisianna to California with requested materials ranging from insulin to solar generators.

Since January 2022, Direct Relief has provided nonprofit health centers and clinics in Kentucky with more than $1.3 million in requested medical aid.

Direct Relief is preparing to mobilize needed medical supplies this week and will continue to provide updates as the situation evolves.

The post Direct Relief Commits an Initial $250,000 to Kentucky Relief Efforts appeared first on Direct Relief.

Yesterday, Direct Relief shipped over-the-counter products and requested supplies to ARcare, a Federally Qualified Health Center with locations in western Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi. Those supplies, including nutritional supplements, allergy medications, aspirin, and pediatric care items, arrived today at a shelter currently housing 75 people in Mayfield, Kentucky, where ARcare is treating patients via a mobile unit.

Mayfield was one of the worst-hit towns, with aerial footage showing entire blocks reduced to rubble. A local candle factory there collapsed, killing at least eight workers.

An additional shipment is leaving Santa Barbara today, bound for an ARcare facility in Paducah, Kentucky, before being transported to the Mayfield location. The shipment includes baby formula, antibiotics, lidocaine, wound care products, cardiovascular drugs, nutritional supplements, insulin, Tdap vaccines, and medicines for asthma.

After natural disasters, patients, especially from vulnerable communities with chronic diseases, often face obstacles accessing medications they rely on to manage their conditions. These can include transportation hurdles, medicine shortages, and interruptions to the power supply needed to keep some medicines within a specific range of temperatures.

To help address power supply shortages, Direct Relief is shipping two SunKit portable solar generators to the Second Christian Church in Mayfield, which is acting as a donation distribution point for the town.

Direct Relief began responding to the disaster on Saturday by reaching member clinics in impacted areas. No clinics reported damage but are treating patients in the regions that have faced, in some cases, catastrophic damage. Direct Relief is also coordinating with the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) at the national and state levels.

Additional reporting contributed by Leighton Jones and Annie Vu.

The post Multi-State Tornado Response Continues as Essential Medications Depart appeared first on Direct Relief.

Up to 90 people are feared dead, with Kentucky alone reporting at least 80 casualties.

Officials warned that the death toll may rise as emergency responders search for survivors amid destroyed and unstable buildings.

Tens of thousands are without power, heat and water, and regional temperatures Monday night are expected to dip as low as 30 degrees.

Direct Relief connected early Saturday morning with health centers and clinics across the six tornado-damaged states.

Direct Relief supports nonprofit health centers and charitable clinics in the affected area on an ongoing basis. In the past week alone, Direct Relief delivered more than 30 shipments of requested medical aid containing 42 thousand doses of medication to healthcare facilities in Kentucky, Illinois and Arkansas.

With needs assessments and relief operations underway, Direct Relief is also coordinating efforts with several national and state groups, including primary care associations in Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Indiana, The National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, or VOAD.

The organization is making its substantial inventory of critical medical resources available to them and is preparing to ship free-of-charge requested medical aid.

The most requested items from Direct Relief’s inventory following tornadoes include emergency medical backpacks, personal hygiene kits, over-the-counter products and personal protective equipment.

It’s also critical to ensure access to medicines for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other conditions, which can put patients at higher risk of a medical emergency.

Often after severe weather, medical needs develop, beyond emergency trauma from the storm. Evacuees or displaced residents may be cut off from essential medicines needed to manage chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure, which can result in emergency room visits, if not managed with an uninterrupted supply of medications and care.

At the health facility level, backup power may be needed for refrigerated medicines, and hygiene kits for displaced people may also be requested.

Health needs during storm recovery and clean-up also often arise, as residents move back into damaged areas to begin work, which may prompt requests for tetanus vaccines and protective gear.

Direct Relief will share more information on its response as the situation evolves.

The post Mobilizing Relief for Tornado-Damaged Communities appeared first on Direct Relief.

According to Our World in Data, 32.7% of the world’s population has had at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, and 24.6% of the world is fully vaccinated. That’s a significant increase from two weeks ago, when 15% of the population was fully vaccinated. Five billion doses have been administered globally thus far.

However, that increase is much smaller in low-income countries, where only 1.4% of the population has received at least one dose – up from 1.1% two weeks ago.

These increases come even as Covid-19 outbreaks, in many cases caused by the contagious Delta variant, continue to occur across the globe.

All Africa reported that 55 African countries had reached a total of more than 7,500,000 Covid-19 cases, and over 60,000,000 vaccinations had been given.

In West Africa, several countries are dealing with outbreaks of cholera, Ebola, and Marburg virus that pose a threat to already compromised emergency response systems. At the same time, Covid-19 fatalities in the region jumped by 193%, to 1,018 the week of August 9. Even as they deal with simultaneous outbreaks of other diseases, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Nigeria are all experiencing Covid-19 surges, according to WHO Africa.

In the Middle East and North Africa, vaccination rates remain low as the Delta variant causes a spike in cases, The New Humanitarian reported. In Lebanon in particular, hospitals are experiencing shortages of both electricity and medications, caused by the country’s financial crisis. Tunisia, which experienced a wave of Covid-19 cases in July, has seen the rise in cases subside but still has the region’s highest recorded death rate. In Yemen, where years of instability and conflict have overwhelmed the country’s weakened health care system, Covid-19 isolation centers are currently full. Doctors have expressed concern that the Delta variant will further overwhelm weakened health care facilities experiencing a shortage in medical supplies.

According to The Tribune India, a third wave of Covid-19 is expected in India in September and October, causing as many as 600,000 new daily cases. A lack of pediatric doctors and equipment may make children as vulnerable as adults to the risks of Covid-19. In the meantime, Al Jazeera reported, India’s drug regulator has granted approval for the emergency use of the world’s first DNA Covid-19 vaccine, in people over the age of 12 years.

As reported by Reuters, the Philippines reported record numbers of new Covid-19 cases (more than 18,000) on Monday. New cases are mostly concentrated in Manila and the surrounding area. Hospitals in the country are near full capacity, and some facilities report running out of ICU beds for Covid-19 patients, according to Al Jazeera.

Thailand is confronting a third wave of Covid-19, with approximately 4,000 new cases a day, making it one of the worst-hit countries in southeast Asia. Tightly crowded conditions, such as those in slums and markets, appear to be contributing to rapid spread, ABC News reported.

In Malaysia, according to CNBC, political and economic situations remain strained as the country faces its worst outbreak. Daily Covid-19 cases surpassed 20,000 in August – the highest globally when adjusted for population size – and the country has experienced more than 1.5 million cumulative cases and 14,000 deaths, according to health ministry data.

Even as unmasked protesters in Melbourne expressed their anger at a new round of lockdowns, Australia recorded its highest daily number of cases since the pandemic began, CNN said.

AP News reported that the only medical oxygen plant in Haiti’s south was damaged in the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck on August 14. Port-au-Prince has two active oxygen plants, but the demand for oxygen has doubled over the past month as the country’s Covid-19 wave continues.

In Cuba, according to The New York Times, oxygen supplies are running low, and the factory that produces the country’s canisters is currently closed.

A report from the Pan American Health Organization found that only one in five people in Latin America has been vaccinated, Merco Press reported. Even within the region, according to the news source, there is considerable disparity: In Chile and Uruguay, more than 70% of the population has received at least one dose, and countries including Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia have each inoculated less than 30%. In Central America and the Caribbean, cases are on the rise, while they’ve been declining in South America. In Mexico, the Delta variant is currently circulating in 92% of the territory. On Tuesday, 1.75 million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine arrived in Mexico from the U.S. in a shipment facilitated by Direct Relief and via donated transport from FedEx.

In the United States, Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine became the first to receive full FDA approval on Monday, a development that is expected to lay the groundwork for more vaccine mandates by employers and other organizations, BBC News reported. The National Guard will be deployed to hospitals in Kentucky, according to CNN, as Covid-19 cases overwhelm hospitals. In rural Oregon, too, hospitals are running low on space, and Covid-19 patients are in emergency-room hallways waiting to be admitted to ICUs, the Los Angeles Times reported. The National Guard was deployed to 20 hospitals in the state, in part to settle arguments between hospital staff and patients’ families. In Orlando, Florida, residents have been asked to conserve water so that liquid oxygen can be preserved for hospital use instead, according to The Washington Post.

Direct Relief’s response

Since the start of the pandemic last year, Direct Relief has delivered more than 44,600 medical aid shipments, worth more than $2.7 billion wholesale. Those shipments have contained more than 440 million units of PPE, and other medical resources to partners in 56 U.S. states and territories and 107 countries.

The post Vaccination Rates Rise Unevenly as Covid-19 Waves Continue appeared first on Direct Relief.

“Unfortunately, we were not her first call,” recalled Snyder, who is Adagio’s senior director of family planning programs. In fact, the woman had reached out to a series of health care providers, but “they would not see her, because she was uninsured.”

Adagio, a nonprofit health center, was able to offer care. The woman, it turned out, needed a double mastectomy to prevent her breast cancer from spreading any further.

“We should never have to see anything like that, and it unfortunately happens all too often,” Snyder said.

In the United States, where the Brookings Institution, among other sources, says that 45% of pregnancies are unintended, barriers to family planning, cancer screenings, and other reproductive health services are widespread and diverse.

Among them? Lack of transportation and child care that might keep a prospective patient from getting to a local clinic. A lack of insurance, which may mean being refused care. Stigma, which could prevent someone from seeking care in a reproductive health facility where they might run into someone they know. And a lack of education or awareness – whether it’s about family planning techniques, their own body, or the importance of screenings in preventing STIs, cancer, and other conditions.

These barriers – and how best to overcome them – were the subject of a March 8 webinar hosted by Direct Relief in honor of International Women’s Day.

Creating educators

Leslie Montgomery, the education manager for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) and, like Snyder, one of the panelists, explained that while some of the barriers her patients face are practical – transportation, child care, finances – others are harder to address.

“People believe a lot of myths, or they just plain lack information about reproductive health services,” Montgomery said.

PPINK provides care to uninsured and low-income patients, and offers a number of resources to help remove those practical barriers. But the organization also focuses on education – both on doing it themselves, and on teaching other people how to do it.

Montgomery explained that the organization has only five educators in the state of Indiana. The rest is done by creating programs that teach community members how to act as effective, trusted resources about sexual and reproductive health.

“We know we can’t do it all,” Montgomery said. “That extends the reach of people having the availability of sexual health.”

A teen council turns young people into informed educators who can act as a reliable source of information for peers. An online course can turn teachers and other professionals into facilitators of effective reproductive health education.

PPINK also focuses on particularly at-risk populations, including youth who are incarcerated or otherwise outside of a home setting, people with substance use disorders, and those who have experienced intimate partner violence.

“What we are finding is adults are becoming more enlightened about the need for sexual health education,” Montgomery said. “Our sexuality is a big part of [our lives], and we have to take care of that and educate ourselves.”

Reaching out

For Adagio Health, which covers 25,000 square miles across three states, reaching a population that’s both urban and rural, and that may experience stigma in seeking out sexual health care, has been challenging.

But Snyder stressed that it’s necessary. Pennsylvania is one of 21 states that doesn’t mandate any form of sex education, and the area that Adagio serves sees high rates of pregnancy and STIs.

“Many of our young clients are not as well-equipped to make decisions about their health that can impact them for the rest of their lives” as others might be, Snyder said.

In many of the rural settings Adagio reaches, “everybody knows everything and everything that you do,” making it difficult to seek out sexual and reproductive health services, Snyder said.

Adagio reaches these patients through a combination of mobile health care and messaging. The organization has a mobile unit that has “all you can get in a stationary medical office. If a patient wants an IUD or an implant, she can get it in the mobile health unit,” even as a walk-in appointment, Snyder explained.

They’re also reaching patients through targeted messaging that’s designed to remove some of the stigma around seeking out reproductive health care and to stress the comfort and confidentiality that the mobile unit can provide – as opposed to an in-town provider where a teenager risks running into “your best friend’s mother,” Snyder said. “It’s safe, it’s welcoming, it’s nonjudgmental.”

Barriers in the Covid-19 world

Both Montgomery and Snyder said that Covid-19 had forced them to turn their focus to telehealth and other virtual services that, coincidentally, helped them address barriers like transportation and child care.

“It made us realize the importance of being able to function in a virtual world,” Montgomery said. “Virtual is here to stay.”

The change made it even more important to provide scholarships to PPINK’s Spark*ED, a virtual program that helps teachers and other people who work with youth to become effective sex educators.

Adagio pivoted to telehealth and telephone appointments, along with drive-up birth control injections.

But both organizations remain committed to education and outreach efforts designed to help their patients increase their health literacy, access necessary reproductive health services, and, they hope, enjoy healthier lives.

A recent award from Direct Relief in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Bayer funded education and messaging programs both at PPINK and Adagio Health.

“The ability to access contraception not only prevents unintended pregnancy, but is crucial to women’s social and economic advancement,” explained Paulina Ospina, Direct Relief’s associate director of maternal and child health. “The most disadvantaged women, particularly those who are uninsured, do not equally share in these benefits.”

Ospina explained that the United States’ high rate of unintended pregnancies is unusual for a wealthy nation.

“We clearly have some work to do,” she said.

The post “It’s Safe, It’s Welcoming, It’s Nonjudgmental.” Overcoming Barriers to Reproductive Health appeared first on Direct Relief.

Adagio Health – a nonprofit organization that offers sexual and reproductive health services to a low-income population in western Pennsylvania – means what they say.

The organization is trying to get more women the health care they need – whether that’s an IUD or implant, an HIV test, or breast and cervical cancer screening – through a mobile unit that travels the state, providing these services in places where they’re hard to come by.

And to do it, they’re launching an education and outreach campaign that’s designed to encourage women to access health services – a campaign that’s funded by Bayer, working in coordination with Direct Relief.

“The focus of this project is to reach people in a way that they can understand and connect to,” said Linda Snyder, the senior director of Adagio’s family planning programs.

A New Undertaking

The Community Health Awards in reproductive health total $160,000 distributed among four different nonprofit reproductive health care providers, each of which will use the money in unique ways.

Adagio is taking their mobile unit on the road, where it will spend ten-hour days parked outside fire stations, churches, and even a popular greenhouse. Their funding will be used to increase awareness of the mobile unit and encourage patients to seek out sexual and reproductive health care.

Maternal and Family Health Services, also in Pennsylvania, is going digital, using the award to launch a telehealth program aimed at a local Spanish-speaking population.

For Planned Parenthood Great Plains, telehealth hasn’t taken off among their patient population – so they’ll use the award to transport patients with transportation barriers to their clinics for sexual and reproductive health care.

And for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, the funding will support reproductive health education programs for incarcerated youth, women in recovery from domestic violence, and other groups – as well as funding scholarships designed to provide effective sex education.

But all of the programs funded by the initiative focus on education, outreach, and access. For Paulina Ospina, Direct Relief’s associate director of maternal and child health, that’s not a coincidence.

Ospina explained that the biggest reasons that people miss out on reproductive health services have to do with lack: of insurance, income, transportation, and education. “These safety net providers are working in exactly the types of communities where we know people are experiencing the highest levels of barriers,” she said.

The awards are focused on eliminating barriers to access, and complement Bayer’s ongoing contribution of IUDs to Direct Relief, which distributes the products to safety net health providers across the United States.

“The point of these awards was to provide funding to help advance strategies that increase access to family planning services by focusing on patient outreach and education, service delivery and point of care,” Ospina said. “These are areas that are often under-resourced for providers working in medically underserved areas.”

A Warm Welcome

For Adagio, which serves a diverse patient population ranging from urban settings to rural communities, nailing their messaging was a challenge.

“The lack of understanding and education about services and what’s available is a problem,” Snyder said. “It deters people from accessing care.”

To create messaging targeted to their patients, Adagio’s staff members collected and combed over patient stories and testimonials to see what was most important to their patients.

What they saw over and over was an emphasis on comfort and lack of stigma. Their providers were kind. The atmosphere was nonjudgmental. Patients felt at ease seeking health services from the mobile unit.

“That’s what we want to turn around and put out there for folks who have never darkened our doorstep,” said Alicia Schisler, Adagio’s chief of external affairs. “We want to have these comfortable spaces.”

Messaging changes depending on whether the audience is urban or rural, Snyder said. An ad targeted to Pittsburgh residents might focus openly on birth control. A rural one, by contrast, might talk about breast and cervical cancer screenings – and feature patient stories from nearby, rural settings.

“That’s going to help me a little. I know that my folks, my neighbors, think this is OK,” Schisler explained.

A Digital Introduction

Adagio may be going on the road, but Maternal and Family Health Services (MFHS) is meeting patients in the digital world.

When Covid-19 hit, MFHS, like many other providers, implemented telehealth. But they quickly noticed a problem, said John Kearney, MFHS’s vice president of program services. The platform wasn’t working for Spanish-speaking patients, and “we didn’t have the resources to speak with these folks and walk them through the software,” he said.

The Community Health Award will change that. MFHS is beginning a new program designed to make digital reproductive health services more available to the Spanish-speaking residents of nearby communities. The program will also come with a navigator who’s from one of those communities and can help new patients connect to MFHS.

Kearney explained that, for their patients, telehealth is a great way to overcome transportation limitations, concerns about immigration status, and language and cultural barriers. “Why force people to come in when they can use their smartphone, when they can use what they have in their hand?” he said.

He’s also hoping that patients who connect to MFHS through telehealth will take advantage of some of the other services that the provider offers, including access to behavioral health and the government Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

That would be “a win for the organization and for the individuals in our area,” he said.

A Free Ride

Planned Parenthood Great Plains turned to telehealth during the pandemic as well. But their experience has led them to try a different approach.

“What we’ve seen in Arkansas specifically is that telehealth has not really picked up,” said Brie Anderson, vice president of health services at Planned Parenthood Great Plains. Anderson credits lack of internet access and comfort with technology as possible causes.

However, she said, transportation was clearly an issue for many of their patients in Arkansas, and they wanted to try taking it out of the equation.

“The area’s pretty wide-reaching…For patients who lack a car, it could take multiple buses and numerous hours to get to us,” Anderson said. “If we reduced the barrier or transportation or reduced the cost of transportation, would we see these patients in our health center?”

For Planned Parenthood Great Plains, the funding will be used to provide transportation through a ride-sharing app to their facilities, which provide everything from STI testing to transgender care.

“People feel incredibly happy that we come to them, that we’re really supportive of their care,” Andersona said. “We were thrilled to have the support and to try this.”

An Educational Approach

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky is focusing their award on education. They’ll provide programming for incarcerated youth, pregnant and parenting teens, and women recovering from substance use and domestic violence.

They’ll promote a new, approachable app designed to provide reliable health information. And they’ll fund scholarships to Spark*ED, a virtual program that helps teachers and others who work with youth to become effective sex educators.

When it comes to reaching out to incarcerated and other at-risk youth, the Power Through Choices program will help them “think about how the choices in their lives impact what happens to them” and “empower…them to understand how to take care of themselves and their partners,” said Leslie Montgomery, the group’s education and outreach manager.

Likewise, education for people in recovery will be connected to the issues and choices that they face.

And the Spark*ED program will increase the reach of the group’s impact by increasing the number of people who are qualified to provide trustworthy, positive sex education.

“A lot of the education that is provided for young folks in particular is focused around abstinence, and we try to make sure that we are being comprehensive,” Montgomery said.

A Cascading Effect

For Ospina, part of the joy of the awards is that they allow for “a more holistic approach” to overcoming reproductive health barriers.

Reproductive health doesn’t just affect the person who receives it, Ospina said. It can have far-reaching impacts on the social and economic well-being of an entire community.

“It ends up being something that cascades far beyond that individual person’s health,” she said.

The post From Transportation to Telehealth, Reproductive Health Providers Are Overcoming Barriers Across U.S. appeared first on Direct Relief.