Blue KC’s commitment to reducing health disparities in Kansas City
If you ever wondered what health disparity looks like in real life, Kathy’s story paints the picture.
When pancreatic cancer disrupted Kathy’s life, she was caring for her elderly mother, her partner with severe health issues, and three grandchildren. Then she ran out of paid time off from her job, which meant she lost pay on chemotherapy days. Soon she couldn’t afford rent. Kathy was in full crisis mode about how she would afford treatment, rent, and food for her family.
Read more about Kathy’s story and how Blue KC’s Community Health Worker program provided relief.
Health disparities are preventable differences in health status, disease rates, and healthcare access that affect socially disadvantaged groups, such as people who struggle to afford housing, food, childcare, healthcare, and transportation.
Blue KC acts to address health disparities
Lasting improvements in health outcomes require more than treating illness. They require investing in innovative solutions that address the barriers people face every day.
Blue KC is committed to supporting programs that create meaningful local impact while generating insights that can be applied on a larger scale to help reduce health disparities and improve the health of our community. By serving as an early catalyst for innovation, we help community partners test new approaches, build evidence, and develop models that can ultimately influence healthcare practices, policy, and population health outcomes far beyond Kansas City.
One way we live out this commitment is through the Transforming KC: Health Outcomes Research Grants program. In partnership with BioNexus KC, the grant program gives back to Kansas City by funding research projects that improve the health and wellness of our community.
As we approach the 15th year of the partnership with BioNexus KC – and $2 million awarded – we are pleased to share outcomes of three recent projects that were powered in part by $50,000 grants from Blue KC:
- FoodFarmacy intervention for food-insecure pregnant people (2024)
- Vaping cessation program for marginalized youth (2024)
- Doula support to improve health outcomes for pregnant Black women (2022)
