All Babies in Connecticut are Born Healthy. and 2 more... less...
Optimize the health and well-being of women, infants, children and families, with a focus on disparate populations.
Optimize the health and well-being of women, infants, children and families, with a focus on disparate populations. (HCT2020)
Disparity ratio between infant mortality rates for non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites in Connecticut.
Current Value
4.0
Definition
Race or ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and geographic location all contribute to an individual’s ability to achieve good health. (Healthy People 2020) In public health, a disparity ratio is a rate comparison of health outcomes sliced by (but not limited to) the aforementioned groups. Since this metric compares non-Hispanic Black to non-Hispanic white infant mortality rates (IMR), a ratio between 0 and 1 indicates a lower IMR for NH Blacks; 1 indicates the same IMR; and greater than 1 indicates a higher IMR for NH Blacks in CT.
Story Behind the Curve
Worldwide, the infant mortality rate is an important marker of the overall health of a society. The lifetime effects of race, racism, social class, poverty, stress, environmental influences, health policy, and other social determinants of health are reflected in elevated rates of adverse outcomes and persistent disparities. The provisional black-to-white infant mortality ratio disparity for the most recent period of 2016-2020 of 3.2 demonstrates a rate of death among non-Hispanic black infants that is approximately 3 times higher than that for non-Hispanic white infants.
Annual data are current through 2021. 2022 data are provisional.
Date of next data update: Aug 15th, 2024
Partners
Connecticut Department of Public Health; State Department of Education; Connecticut Department of Social Services; Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; Connecticut Department of Children and Families; Commission on Children; health care providers; health care facilities; health insurers; professional associations for nursing, dieticians, and pharmacists; organizations and coalitions that support women and infants; community service providers that address at-risk populations; schools of public health, allied health, nursing, and medicine.
What Works
The continuation of evidenced-based programs, such as the Federal Healthy Start Program, home visiting programs, educating providers on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards coupled with efforts to increase health equity and address social determinants of health, is essential to achieving improved birth outcomes and eliminating disparities.
Healthy People 2020 as a guiding document.
Strategy
Current year priority strategies and actions will be linked here once available.
SHIP Strategies
Advocacy and Policy
- Address implementation of health promotion efforts
- Promote social equity
- Improve access to healthcare for women before, during, and after pregnancy
Partnership and Collaboration
- Address quality of care for all women and infants
- Address improving maternal risk screening for all women of reproductive age
- Enhance service integration for women and infants
Surveillance
- Develop data systems to understand and inform efforts
Note: many of these strategies align with the Connecticut Plan to Improve Birth Outcomes, released in Fall 2015.
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