The Upjohn Institute is participating in an effort to reduce disparities and improve health in Muskegon County. The program, funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund, is the first of its kind looking at ways to address the structural factors that affect community health, such as employment opportunities, transportation, quality health care, healthful food and access to safe spaces.
The Upjohn Regional team will serve as a research partner to Access Health, which received one of 26 multi-year grants through the NIH Common Fund Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society, or ComPASS. Access Health will lead a multi-sector effort to improve community health, including a new framework for providing health coverage for low-income workers.
The Regional team will work to ensure the effort is informed by a rigorous and meaningful research component and to analyze plans and outcomes to ensure they best meet the program’s goals, particularly regarding economic security and employment.
News of the grant award was reported in Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
NIH has details of the ComPASS program