Center for Advancement of Urban Children

Staff

Research highlights

Investigators in the center have received an eight-year, $3.4 million renewal grant from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities to eliminate immunization disparities among children of low-income, ethnic/racial backgrounds. The grant is through the Medical College of Wisconsin. Earnestine Willis, MD, MPH, is principal investigator for the grant.

The renewal of this grant provides funding for the elimination of health disparities by building upon the Community Health Improvement Metcalfe Park/Concordia planning grant awarded in 2005, including a pilot intervention to carry the project into its fourth year.

Dr. Willis seeks to reduce immunization rate disparities by examining how to change prevailing health beliefs of families, specifically to benefit children younger than age 14. This initiative will continue a community-based participatory research approach and identify community-driven interventions to foster healthy behavior among low-income families.

Research programs

  • Healthy Teeth = Healthy Kids
    Healthy Teeth = Healthy Kids is creating an action plan that educates children and aids them in living a healthy life free from mouth pain.

  • Families' Legal and Medical Partnership for Milwaukee
    The partnership between faculty from the Medical College of Wisconsin and Marquette University Law School is establishing a medical-legal advocacy program onsite at the Downtown Health Center. This program will:
    • Augment preventive pediatric care.
    • Enhance health providers' knowledge of social and environmental conditions that influence the health of families.
    • Engage all health care providers in applying preventive law to address the root causes of poor health among children from low-income families.

  • Faith-based African American Preparedness
    Faith-based African American Preparedness will create a communication plan and support infrastructure to engage the African American community in emergency preparedness, health policy, planning and advocacy to improve community capacity to reduce health disparities.

  • Immunization Compliance
    The Immunization Compliance program will improve the immunization compliance for children in low-income families in Milwaukee County.

  • Medical Home for Children with Special Health Care Needs
    This program enhances the medical home model for underserved children with special needs in the central city of Milwaukee.

  • Health Care Services and Quality Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs
    Health Care Services and Quality Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs examines patterns of health care use by children with special health care needs and disparities in access, use and satisfaction with care.

Publications and media

  • Disparities in Satisfaction and Ease of Service Use Among Children with Special Health Care Needs Study. April 3, 2006. WITI-TV Ch. 6 (FOX).
  • Lutter SA, Glatz JA, Kastner KJ, Taylor SR, Willis E. Filling the Cavities Between Children and Oral Health. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2004; 103(5):74-78.
  • Ngui EM, Cortright A. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Bicycle Helmet Use Among Children With and Without Special Health Care Needs: Effects of Neighborhood Characteristics and State Helmet Laws. Pediatrics. 2008. Under review.
  • Ngui EM, Flores G. Satisfaction with Care and Ease of Using Health Care Services Among Parents of Children With Special Health Care Needs: The Roles of Race/Ethnicity, Insurance, Language and Adequacy of Family-centered Care. Pediatrics. 2006; 117(4):1184-1196.
  • Ngui EM, Flores G. Unmet Needs for Specialty, Dental, Mental and Allied Health Care Among Children With Special Health Care Needs: Are There Racial/Ethnic Disparities? Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 2007; 18:931-949.