New Projects
Suzanna Walters
Policy Partners:Reproductive Equity Now, Boston, MA; Access Reproductive Justice, Oakland, CA
Reproductive Justice Research Collaborative (RJRC)
Working with C2C, the Reproductive Justice Research Collaborative (RJRC) will build on previous work and hold two gatherings with community partners. Hosted by our two anchor partners – one in Boston and one in Oakland – and held at our Boston and Mills campuses, the workshops will develop proactive policy ideas through a process called Appreciative Inquiry (AI). AI is a collective endeavor that builds community while simultaneously producing concrete strategic plans. In addition to developing a collective reproductive justice policy research agenda, the RJRC and its partners will also evaluate the AI process itself as a grassroots policy development tool.
John Lowrey
Policy Partner: Amy Headings, PhD, Director of Research and Nutrition, MidOhio Food Collective
The Health Quality, Cost, and Clinical Productivity Benefit of a Food Referral Program: Building on Existing Evidence from the MidOhio Farmacy
Healthcare-hunger relief partnership models of care link primary care clinics to community-based social service agencies like food banks or food pantries. Prior research has examined the barriers and facilitators of referral compliance in clinic-based food referral programs, however, these factors complicate causal effect estimates of program evaluation studies. Compliance, defined as making at least one visit to the food pantry after referral, is notoriously low in these types of programs and usually range from 0-15%. The seed grant will build on existing empirical analyses of the MidOhio Farmacy program—from a community collaboration in central Ohio—to (1) optimize programmatic features and better identify treatment effects, and (2) aid to other Feeding America member Food Banks with a vested interest in healthcare partnerships.
Brianna Keefe-Oates
Policy Partners: Kimika Ross, MPP, Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director, Tides for Reproductive Freedom; Josie Pinto, MPH, Co-Founder of New Hampshire Reproductive Freedom Fund
Out-of-state travel for abortion in New England: Identifying support strategies
With increasingly restrictive abortion access in many states, more people are traveling to New England for abortion care. The long-term goal of this project is to identify strategies to improve access to abortion for those traveling for care. In this initial phase of the project we will interview abortion care workers in New England about their experiences supporting people traveling from out of state for care. Findings will be shared in a meeting with community partners to discuss further research needs and identify strategies to increase access. The research team includes Northeastern researcher Brianna Keefe-Oates, Josie Pinto, Executive Director of the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire, and Kimika Ross, Co-Executive Director of Tides for Reproductive Freedom.