Real-world Evidence to Advance Community Health
Published November 2025 Dillard et al. Hearing loss affects many adults, but people experience its impact differently. This study looked at Wisconsin residents who said they had hearing loss and explored two things: what factors are linked to how much difficulty people feel they have hearing, and whether people who report more difficulty are more …
Schmidt et al. Published March 2025 This study looked at how exercise can help with depression and anxiety in adults who have two or more long-term health conditions, like diabetes, heart disease, or high blood pressure. The study used data from the REACH Program. Adults wore devices to measure their movement and filled out surveys …
Dillard et al. Published November 2025 In this study, researchers used data from the REACH Program to look at hearing problems and hearing aid use among adults in Wisconsin. Overall, 137 adults who reported having hearing loss completed a survey about hearing difficulties in daily life. People who started having hearing problems at younger age …
A recent study published in Family Medicine and Community Health explores the relationship between community belonging and mental health in Wisconsin. Researchers studied how feeling connected to your neighborhood—called “sense of community”—affects mental health. Using data from over 1,600 participants in the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW), they examined links between sense of …
A recent study looked at how many households have carbon monoxide (CO) detectors and whether people know about state laws requiring them. CO is a tasteless, odorless gas that can cause serious illness or even death if inhaled. The gas can build up quickly and without warning from car exhaust, gas stoves, and furnaces. The …
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are in everyday items like non-stick pans, food packaging, and fire-fighting foam. These chemicals don’t break down easily, so they can build up in the environment and in our bodies over time. Studies have shown that PFAS can raise the risk of health problems like certain cancers, high cholesterol, …
The REACH (Real-world Evidence to Advance Community Health) Program recently received a 5-year U24 award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to establish a longitudinal environmental epidemiology cohort. This award will enable statewide data collection from participants and piloting novel, participant-administered, blood collection tools. Implementation of these innovative tools will allow the …
REACH The REACH (Real-world Evidence to Advance Community Health) Program is dedicated to improving the health of Wisconsin’s residents through community-informed research. The program utilizes advanced informatics approaches and tools and leads research on environmental health, cancer, and aging on a statewide community-based cohort of over 6,000 participants. In addition, REACH serves as a UWCCC …