History shows that when expectations about health and health care shift, people in lower socio-economic status communities are the last, and least, to benefit. This pattern consistently reappears because there are persisting differences in “health literacy” among health care consumers. As a result, lower-income patients and people of color, especially those newly insured and newly engaged in mainstream medical care, may have difficulty guarding against the risks of unnecessary screening and treatment.
The Connecticut Center for Primary Care will implement the Connecticut Choosing Wisely® Collaborative (CCWC) to engage the Enhancing Patient/Clinician Communication: Leveraging Choosing Wisely® as a Tool for Achieving Health Equity project. The project will involve literature studies and the creation of Choosing Wisely® materials to address the cultural and linguistic needs of multi-cultural populations. CWCC will conduct a pilot test with practice sites and disseminate the results of the findings to key stakeholders and use the successful strategies to expand the communication plan in partnership with the Consumer Reports Health Impact Group.
CCWC’s initiative is aligned with CT Health’s health equity objective of promoting insurance enrollment and navigation support systems that will increase and maintain coverage.
CWCC will use funding to engage a CCWC Fellow to support this project and also to select and sponsor a student from the Urban Service Track (UST) program (a community enrichment program for University of Connecticut and Quinnipiac University students) for this project.