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Advancing equitable access to gastrointestinal care | Takeda Stories

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Advancing equitable access to gastrointestinal care in rural communities

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March 13, 2025
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Keisa Mansfield, MPA, Co-leader of Women of Wellness initiative

"Abdominal pain and gastrointestinal issues were recurring themes in our focus groups with women in our community," says Keisa Mansfield. She’s a health researcher in rural Georgia, applying her expertise to a program at her church. As part of a community-centered approach to health equity, she helps conduct focus groups among Black women in the small city of Albany, Georgia. “We asked, what are some of the health issues that you see reoccurring, issues that you have questions about?”

It’s not surprising that gastrointestinal (GI) issues came up in these focus groups. In the U.S., research shows that Black women are disproportionately affected by certain GI conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)*.1,2 And additional community-level outcomes and socio-behavioral data provided by Surgo Health, a heath technology company and Public Benefit Corporation, found prevalent factors in the Albany area, such as lack of access to primary care, low health literacy, and lower rates of health insurance coverage that add to negative health outcomes and demonstrated a compelling need for more interventions to raise awareness and help people get the care they want and need.

‘Identify, advocate and navigate’


Addressing health inequities and barriers to GI-related care are the goals of the Georgia Gut Health Program. It’s an initiative that brings community partners together to provide information to community health workers about two common GI diseases: IBS and IBD. The coalition behind this program consists of Mt. Zion Baptist church, part of the National Minority Quality Forum's Faith Health Alliance, and other faith-based organizations and stakeholders in Albany including the Albany Coalition of Churches and the Women of Wellness (WOW!), a community health worker training program. Takeda is a sponsor of the Georgia Gut Health Program.

Picture of Ursula Mathis Dennis

Ursula Mathis Dennis, MBA, MSN, Co-leader of Women of Wellness initiative

Ursula Mathis Dennis, who like Keisa, is a health care professional residing in Albany and a member of the Mt. Zion congregation, is also co-leading the WOW! efforts. She says the core principles of that program are to, “Identify, advocate and navigate.”

“Our main objective is to teach women how to identify disease-related symptoms and advocate for their own care,” she says. “We help them access a trusted network where they can get the care they are entitled to receive.”

Trust is key


Trust is a key concept in community health efforts. And given the renowned history of struggling for equality in communities such as Albany, the most trusted institutions are often faith-based. In fact, in 1961, Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a crowd of 1,500 at Albany’s Old Mt. Zion Church, emphasizing the importance of desegregation and unity in the fight for civil rights.

Picture of Dr. Daniel Simmons

Dr. Daniel Simmons, Senior Pastor, Mt. Zion Baptist Church

The Mt. Zion Baptist Church has been serving Albany and surrounding communities since 1922. More recently, the church joined the Faith Health Alliance as part of its ministry under the leadership of Dr. Daniel Simmons.

“Pastors have different callings, and healthcare is a major calling for me,” says Dr. Simmons. “I’ve pastored over 5,000 people and seen the difference healthcare can make to quality of life and length of life. And I’ve seen people victimized by lack of information, lack of healthcare access. I’ve been a victim of that myself.”

Community driven outreach events


WOW gathering

Women of Wellness receive training on how to identify and address GI health topics

Dr. Simmons’ passion for health equity was evident in the fall of 2024, when he helped convene more than 60 WOW! members to participate in a training session on how to identify and address GI health topics. After receiving education from a gastroenterologist on IBS and IBD, the WOW! community health workers will fan out throughout their communities and engage other women and families about their health, including risk factors and prevention of GI diseases. WOW! members also learned about “food as medicine,” so they can offer guidance about healthy eating.

“Our main objective is to teach women how to identify their disease-related symptoms and advocate for their own care. We help them access a trusted network where they can get the care they are entitled to receive.”

Ursula Mathis Dennis, MBA, MSN Co-leader of Women of Wellness initiative

But first, the gut health Program leaders want to understand more about community needs. They are sending out a survey through more than 40 area churches. Each church will survey its female congregation members to identify their specific needs pertaining to gut health. The survey results will then inform the design of each local community outreach event. This way, when WOW! members share gut health knowledge, they also share information about resources to help improve health outcomes. These community-driven events will begin in April 2025.

A model for success


Takeda has seen the Community Health Worker model be successful in connecting communities to care and resources in other initiatives that the company has supported elsewhere in the world. Vice President of U.S. Community Health, Dr. Chris Reddick says he and his team are eager to see the Georgia Gut Health Program take shape.

“We are increasingly supportive of the community health worker model, helping those who know their communities best to identify needs and resources to improve health equity,” he says. “We see community-driven models like this as an extension of our company’s legacy of collaboration and innovation in service of patients. We hope to see this model’s success replicated in other disease areas and in other U.S. communities going forward.”

Ursula agrees that different approaches are needed.

“We’re moving beyond the health fair model to a model of community empowerment. We’re moving from transactional to transformational,” says Ursula.

  • Irritable bowel syndrome is classified as a functional gastrointestinal disorder, which means there is some type of disturbance in bowel function.

  • Inflammatory bowel disease is an umbrella term used to describe disorders that cause chronic inflammation of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The two most common forms of IBD are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Source: https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/Go to https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/

References


  1. Singh, M. E., James, S. P., Germino, G. G., & Rodgers, G. P. (2022). Achieving Health Equity Through Digestive Diseases Research and Scientific Workforce Diversity. Gastroenterology, 162(6), 1597–1601.e1. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2022.01.005Go to https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2022.01.005
  2. Unalp-Arida, A., & Ruhl, C. E. (2023). The Burden of Digestive Diseases in the United States Population. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2023.08.16.23294166. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.16.23294166Go to https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.16.23294166

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