Community Connections: What are Health Disparities, and Wisconsin PRAMS data

In Community Connections, UW Ob-Gyn Outreach Specialist Cheryl Casey'Grant shares information about important community issues, events, and forums to bring better awareness and help our department connect to community concerns.

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Community Connections: What are Health Disparities?  

A “health disparity” refers to a higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one group relative to another. A “health care disparity” typically refers to differences between groups in health insurance coverage, access to and use of care, and quality of care. In Wisconsin, African American families experience the greatest health disparities.

PRAMS, the “Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System”, is a surveillance project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health departments. Developed in 1987, PRAMS collects site-specific, population-based data on maternal attitudes and experiences before, during, and shortly after pregnancy. Wisconsin started participating in PRAMS in 2007.

The Wisconsin PRAMS 2018-2019 Surveillance Report and accompanying data tables (download) are now published.