Racial Inequity in Infant Mortality Rates in St. Louis
Problem
The infant mortality rate in 63106 and 63107 zipcode area is 16+ per 1,000 live births, far exceeding the 2012 national average of 6 per 1,000 live births.
Approach
Solutions
Public Transit
Current System and stops seriously disincentivize mothers and impact health outcomes. The public transit agenda should be framed around connecting underserved areas to services and opportunities and investments should be made in areas identified as Opportunity Blocks. Learn more and download the GIS files here and view the deliverables here.
Transportation Committee
For pregnant women accessing health services the transit system is inconvenient, uncomfortable, and unfair. Health outcomes can be improved by increasing the frequency of bus routes (4, 32, 41, and 74), improve amenities at opportunity blocks or points of transfer, and hold institutions accountable for serving captive riders. Learn more.
Ride Share
Cities across the country are creating new models of ride share for healthcare access. Learn more.
Checkout the article on the Record about our Social Innovation Pitch Day event here.
Progress
The team from our Social Innovation course presented to the Generate Health transportation committee.
This group of community leaders and advocates considered and accepted our recommendation to focus on the geography between Cass and MLK for street infrastructure like benches and lights to improve the transport experience especially for captive riders.
The team also presented at the Metrolink public hearings about how small improvements in bus infrastructure can improve outcomes for moms and babies in 63106 and 63107.
GIS Layer Files
Download and explore the visualized data for ArcGIS and summary of the findings conducted by students during Social Innovation Spring 2018 course. Download the .zip