August 17, 2020

Two research teams that include faculty from the School of Social Work were recently awarded COVID-19 health equity research grants from the UW Population Health Initiative. The funds, which support partnerships with communities of color disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, will help accelerate efforts to better understand, mitigate or reverse the pandemic’s impact on vulnerable communities. The projects were developed to address community-identified needs.

In Seattle and King County, COVID-19 safety measures have reduced face-to-face perinatal and wellness visits, and many childbirth education classes have been canceled. Because low-income and women of color are routinely denied health insurance and living wages, and subsidized insurance rarely reimburses the expense of blood pressure cuffs for self-monitoring, these women are more likely to develop pre-eclampsia, a preventable, often symptom-less, condition that can lead to serious or fatal complications for both mother and baby. 

Associate Professor Amelia Gavin is part of a four-person team exploring whether COVID-19 perinatal racial/ethnic health disparities can be reversed through home-based self-monitoring and self-reporting of blood pressure, stress and depression. Blood pressure monitoring kits along with self-screening stress and depression tools, training and outreach will be available to all eligible pregnant women, estimated between 100 to 150 individuals, who seek care at four NeighborCare Health Clinics. The research team will assess whether this approach helps decrease pandemic-related perinatal racial/ethnic health disparities and help pregnant women feel more comfortable seeking social and emotional support. 

In the second study, Megan Moore, the School’s Sidney Miller Endowed Associate Professor in Direct Practice, joins a cross-disciplinary team to research civil domestic violence protection orders in King County and their implications for population health and justice equity. The team includes representatives from Seattle University and five King County legal aid or public health organizations. 

COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted domestic violence survivors of color. Many are without jobs, income or other resources and have few options to seek help when living with an abusive partner. Although court-ordered domestic violence protection orders are available, research shows that low-income and marginalized survivors of color are still disproportionally represented in the criminal justice system. 

The study will compare the rate of civil domestic violence legal filings and their adjudication trajectory in King County, both before and after the pandemic, documenting race, ethnicity, age, gender and socioeconomic status. The team will use a race and social justice analysis to develop a roadmap for capturing data needed to identify the gaps faced by domestic violence survivors of color when accessing civil legal services.  

Fourteen teams from 11 different UW schools and colleges received $265,000 in this latest round of COVID-19 Population Health Initiative grants. The teams are partnering with 26 different community-based organizations throughout King County. With matching funds, the total value of the awards amount to approximately $378,000.