Institute for Families in Society

Research Bio:

Sarah Gareau, DrPH, MCHES is an Assistant Professor and the Maternal and Child Health and Health Equity Evaluation Projects Team Lead at the University of South Carolina’s Institute for Families in Society (USC IFS). She heads a multidisciplinary team working to advance maternal & child health in SC and beyond through applied research centered on health services & health policy, program development and evaluation, and community engagement.

For over a decade, Dr. Gareau has supported the data efforts of SC’s perinatal quality collaborative (SCBOI) and AIM initiatives with a focus on maternal health equity in partnership with the SC Department of Health & Human Services Medicaid program. She is currently a member of SC’s HRSA-funded maternal health innovation leadership team and a co-investigator on two PCORI grants focused on improving postpartum outcomes through doula coverage and enhanced screening. She was awarded a Voices of Public Health Award for her outreach and advocacy during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she previously served as an elected member of the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association.

Background:

In 2001, I began working as a health educator for the Boys & Girls Club in Akron, OH where I saw firsthand the impact of policy on people. Federal mandates requiring mothers to return to work left children fending for themselves at our after school and summer programs. Some youth wandered towards other, less protective communities - changing the trajectory of their individual lives, the safety of the neighborhood, and cost right back to society.

Addressing these political and social determinants of health to improve health equity continues to be my passion. For the decade that followed my work at the Boys & Girls Club, I had the privilege to earn my doctorate with a cognate in women’s health policy, became MCHES certified, evaluated state education policy, improved access to health education and reproductive health services through grassroots mobilization, mentored students by directing a Master of Public Health program, and served as a leader at the American Public Health Association through my work with the Women’s Caucus.

I am currently the IFS Maternal and Child Health and Health Equity Evaluation Projects Team Lead where I am responsible for writing technical reports and policy briefs primarily related to maternal and infant health outcomes and access to health care for the uninsured. This job has allowed me to fulfill my passion of having on-the-ground practice, public health science, and health policy converge. I am particularly interested in how we can decrease maternal morbidity for communities of opportunity in SC through improved policy, provider practice, collaboration, and patient activation.

Over time, I have realized that often the greatest impact one can make to move the social justice needle happens behind the scenes through the provision of data that shapes policymakers’ minds. However, without the individuals, families, and communities, there is no data or need for policy, which is why it is so important to uplift the voices of those we ultimately serve to impact potentially greater change. This understanding helped drive my involvement in forming South Carolinians Reducing the Spread & Impact of COVID-19, a social media network of over 30,000 SC citizens. This volunteer effort relit my passion for grassroots advocacy centered on social justice and provided social support as our family navigated complex health needs throughout the shifting phases of the pandemic. In my remaining spare time, you can find me, my husband Brandon, and our two sons Teddy and Paddy traveling and being tourists in our own backyard.