Bridging the communication gap to provide health information to at-risk communities

The COVID-19 pandemic has helped shed light on racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare and health outcomes. In central Wisconsin, Hmong and Hispanic communities are particularly vulnerable to the negative health, educational, and economic impacts of COVID-19.  Many of these disparities can be attributed to language, cultural, and literacy barriers as well as insufficient awareness of available services, resources, and lack of protection in workplaces. Immigration issues and discrimination add further complication.

The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS) has partnered with the Medical College of Wisconsin-Central Wisconsin to develop a network of concerned community organizations to respond and address existing communication barriers with the Hmong and Hispanic communities.  The Hmong and Hispanic Communication Network project (H2N), created in March 2020, focuses on the strengthening of communication channels and information exchange between public health facing organizations and people in the Hmong and Hispanic communities in central Wisconsin.

The H2N project collaborates with public health organizations, health systems, resource agencies and community organizations to provide Hmong and Hispanic communities with resources and tools to better withstand the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click the link below for more details!

https://wipps.org/programs/h2n/