Evaluating Undoing Racism and Health Equity Training with a State Health Department

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has partnered with local health departments, community-based organizations and the University of Michigan to form the PRIME (Practices to Reduce Infant Mortality through Equity) project. The PRIME project has several goals, one of which is to identify a replicable workforce training and practice model that will identify and eliminate institutional discriminatory policies and practices as a means to promote health equity. The PRIME project hosted two trainings for MDCH staff, and local community partners. The Undoing Racism (UR) workshops (facilitated by the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond) engaged 158 MDCH staff and partners. The Health Equity and Social Justice (HESJ) workshops (facilitated by the Ingham County Health Department) engaged 87 MDCH staff and local health professionals. The evaluation methods included assessing changes in self-rated competencies to explain racism concepts, to engage in authentic dialogue on race equity, and to identify MDCH policies and practices that influence health equity. We also assessed changes in knowledge about racism and health equity issues. We found statistically significant increases in these training outcomes at both training events. We also conducted focus group discussions with UR participants to better understand MDCH staff reactions to the UR training. The participants' comments on both training events revealed a variety of reactions and highlighted the diversity of ideas for improving MDCH policies and practices. Discussion of these results will focus on the uses of the health equity trainings to address racial health disparities.