Our Blog
Virginia’s General Assembly session ended on February 25. However, lawmakers are still negotiating updates to the state budget. The budget is crucial because it funds the agencies and programs that serve Virginians. Virginia Health Catalyst’s budget priorities include: $100,000 in general funds and $100,000 in nongeneral funds to study the costs and benefits of adding…
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Racism drives health inequities and is a public health emergency. Ongoing systemic racism and unequal impacts of the pandemic contribute to many health and health care disparities that adversely impact the overall health and well-being of Black people in America. We’ve seen firsthand, and through the efforts of others (such as here and here), the…
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Drinking water is essential for life, but reliable access to safe, affordable drinking water isn’t a guarantee. More and more, we hear stories about the past and present water crises: from Jackson, MS, or Flint, MI, to the troubling drought in the American West, it’s clear our water systems are in trouble. Without adequate infrastructure,…
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Policies influence our health. Ensuring that policies at the local, state, and federal levels support comprehensive health care access for all Virginians is integral to Catalyst’s mission. Catalyst engages with partners across the commonwealth to advocate for health policies that advance equity and center the voices and experiences of the communities who are directly impacted.…
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A new Impact Story describes a collaborative project that identified a disconnect between patients’ experiences and providers’ assumptions about barriers to dental care, as well as examples of the impact of racism in health care. Patients described a public oral health system that didn’t meet their needs, citing the following as barriers to care: Cost…
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Two issues consistently rise to the top related to the dental workforce in Virginia: The significant waiting lists of new patients at dental clinics because of provider capacity limitations; and The need for a more robust dental public health pathway that builds a workforce that looks like the state demographics and serves low-income and uninsured…
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Barriers to achieving good oral and overall health do not stop with access to care. Systemic racism exists within healthcare, is linked to several social determinants of health, and contributes to racial inequities in oral health. Multi-level interventions that focuses on system change to advance racial equity can improve population-level health. This report highlights several…
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School-based health programs provide health services, like oral health, to students in schools. Schools were closed and students learned virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting school-based health programs and impacting the care children received. This study surveyed public elementary schools in Virginia to understand the impact the pandemic had on school-based health programs and what…
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Community Health Workers (CHWs) are public health workers with unique understanding of the experience, language, and culture of the populations they serve to promote healthy living and to help people take greater control over their health and lives. They are trained to work in a variety of community settings to provide culturally appropriate health education,…
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In this study of women at an urban health center in Virginia, pregnant women in Virginia covered through Medicaid were less likely to be aware of and use their dental benefit than women who had private dental insurance. A third of the women did not know the pregnancy dental benefit existed. What next? Policy: Ensure…
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