The Health Disparities Podcast

Medical Mythbuster Joel Bervell explains why representation matters — in medicine and media

What motivates Joel Bervell, a.k.a. the Medical Mythbuster, to create social media content addressing racial disparities, the hidden history of medicine, and biases in healthcare? 
He’s seen how it can literally save lives.
A year after Bervell posted a video about disparities in pulse oximeters for Black patients, a man reached out to share that during the pandemic, he had reported to the hospital with shortness of breath, a fever and COVID symptoms. The pulse oximeter reported 100% oxygen saturation, so he was told to go home.
“But he felt horrible, and he had recently seen my video” showing pulse oximeters can report falsely high oxygen readings in Black patients, Bevell says. “And so he told the doctors.. I want to stay here at the hospital. Is that okay?”
The doctors let him stay, and the man ended up crashing the night, ending up in the ICU with intubation. He’s grateful he survived, and later reached out to Bervell to say, “because of your video, I felt confident being able to say, ‘I don't know if this is accurate for me, I don't feel well. I want to stay.’”
Bervell says this is why he creates videos like these, to help people understand medical issues “so they can feel confident to let their needs be known” to health care providers.
Hear more on this story and the latest adventures of the Medical Mythbuster Joel Bervell, who joined Movement Is Life’s summit as a closing plenary speaker, and spoke with Board member Dr. Erick Santos for this podcast episode.
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Weight bias is pervasive – what can be done about it? A conversation with obesity medicine specialist Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford

Weight bias is pervasive and is one of the most common forms of bias in the U.S. 
When it comes to obesity medicine, patients can be their worst critics, says Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine physician scientist, educator, and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
“They’re their worst critics because what they’ve heard from their doctors, their family members, their peers is that they have failed,” Dr. Stanford says. “My goal is to help them realize that they’re not, indeed, a failure. There are options. We can treat  this disease. We do have treatments available.”
Dr. Stanford is a national and international sought-after expert in obesity medicine who bridges the intersection of medicine, public health, policy, and disparities. She joins the Health Disparities podcast to discuss weight bias, how that bias causes stress, and the role of stress in obesity.
This episode was originally published in 2019 with host Dr. Bonnie Mason Simpson.
Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The CDC’s Dr. Karen Hacker explains the link between social determinants of health and chronic disease

It takes a village to find and implement strategies that promote positive health outcomes in communities across the U.S. — and the nation’s public health agency is working to promote these innovations.
“The best innovations that we've had for humankind have come from these types of collective strategies,” says Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
This week on the Health Disparities Podcast, we're joined by Dr. Hacker, who shares her insights on healthcare collaboration and bridging community-clinical services to help address social determinants of health, which are linked to chronic diseases that affect 6 in 10 Americans.
“The number one focus of our efforts is: How do we support the public health system to really think about strategies that are evidence-based to help their constituents across the nation make the healthiest choices that they can make?” she says.
Dr. Hacker joined Movement Is Life’s summit and spoke with steering committee member Sarah Hohman for this podcast episode.
Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Collaboration is the cure: Dr. Vivian Pinn calls for renewed efforts to bring about health equity

Collaboration is the cure: Dr. Vivian Pinn calls for renewed efforts to bring about health equity
Speaking at the university where she was the only female and only African American student in her class, and in the auditorium named for her, “Healing Hate” conference keynote speaker Dr. Vivian Pinn reflects on progressing her career during eras of segregation, discrimination, and civil rights. 
Pinn says it’s important to address the erroneous historical racial stereotypes that have informed contemporary unconscious bias. In working toward health equity, she says interdisciplinary collaboration is critical.
“You’ve got to work together,” Pinn says. “No one person, no one group is responsible for it all. That synergy of collaboration, you can't beat.”
She also describes her work at NIH, where she was the inaugural Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and explains why it’s so important that everyone get involved at the socio-political level.
This episode was originally published in 2020 with host Dr. Randall Morgan. 
Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A Conversation With Arline Geronimus on Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society

Chronic stress from life in an unjust society can have measurable negative impacts on the health of people from marginalized backgrounds. 
The concept is known as weathering, and it’s the focus of the aptly named book by Arline Geronimus, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a professor in the school of public health at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.
Weathering is exacerbated by racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and can contribute to health disparities, leading to earlier onset of diseases like cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. 
Geronimus compares modern-day stressors to the literal predators of the past and urges listeners to come together to explore systemic solutions that can help mitigate the effects of weathering.
“We all have to commit to seeing each other, to understanding the differences in our lived experience,” she says, “to seeing that different people have different ‘lions’ and ‘tigers’ …and figuring out what it is we have to do to change that.”
Geronimus joined Movement Is Life’s summit and spoke with Board Member Christin Zollicoffer for this podcast episode.
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Harvard Professor Augustus White III: Surgeon, Author & Health Equity Pioneer

Professor Augustus “Gus” White III didn’t just pioneer the understanding of unconscious bias through research methodology during his illustrious career as an orthopedic surgeon. The Harvard Medical School professor and author of “Overcoming” & “Seeing Patients” has also spent a lifetime fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion wherever he has worked, often by emphasizing our common humanity; his use of the term “fellow humans” to start speeches has become legendary.
“I think diversity and inclusion is a very important reality ideal to address,” White says. “It has numerous values for institutions, for people who are involved and for making progress in the direction of beginning to eliminate and adjust and correct for and protect our humanity, as well as our ethnic citizenship, if you will.”
This episode was originally published in 2019 with host Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason.

Advancing health equity through patient-centered communication

Respectful, patient-centered communication can play a huge role in improving health outcomes and helping eliminate health disparities. 
In today’s episode hosted by Movement Is Life’s Conchita Burpee, we explore the critical elements of effective, patient-centered communication. Our guests:
Dr. Mauvareen Beverley, an executive-level physician with 20 years of experience advocating for improving patient engagement and cultural competency and the author of the book, “Nine Simple Solutions to Achieve Health Equity: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals and Patients” 
Dr. Janet Austin, the founder of JSA Chronic Disease Foundation, a national nonprofit aimed at providing resources and support to help people who experience pain due to chronic diseases have a better life.
Beverley says effective doctor-patient communication starts with heightened human value for each patient, regardless of their background or circumstances: “Everybody talks about being respectful and this and that, but if you don't value me, you think respect is going to come into your mind or your brain?”
Austin shares her personal experience as a lifelong chronic disease patient in explaining how small acts of kindness from healthcare providers can go a long way.
“I was having a really rough time just a few months ago, and of course, I'm there to talk with [my internal medicine doctor], and I'm crying,” Austin says. “She actually said, ‘Janet, I'm going to go ahead and book you to come back to see me in three months, I'm just going to make time for me to listen.’ And I just… I left so optimistic because someone said that they wanted to listen.” 
Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

To avoid exhaustion and burnout, consider this advice for better self-care

When it comes to self-care, many people think of taking a break due to exhaustion or burnout. But the acts of self-care that make a real difference go beyond self-soothing, says Ariel Belgrave, an award-winning health and fitness expert, wellness consultant, and the founder of Gym Hooky. 
Belgrave challenges people to consider self-care as an investment in their future selves.
“The mindset shift I challenge folks to have is: thinking about the future version of you,” Belgrave says. “...The reality is: Taking care of yourself now could be the difference between your independence and being in a nursing home.”
This week on the Health Disparities podcast, we revisit a conversation between host Dr. Tamara Huff and Ariel Belgrave debunk self-care myths and explore alternative approaches to prioritizing yourself using the P.A.U.S.E. method.
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Rural health challenges and opportunities, Part 4: What does it take to prevent rural hospital closures?

Over the past two decades, nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed, resulting in millions of Americans losing access to an emergency room, inpatient care, and other hospital services. And today, more than 700 rural hospitals in the U.S. – or approximately 1 in 3 – are at risk of closing due to financial problems, according to a report from the nonprofit Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. 
All this comes at a time when rural health disparities are rampant. In the final episode of our rural health series, we consider solutions: What does it take to prevent rural hospital closures? What evidence-based solutions can policymakers consider to ensure all Americans have access to critical health services, regardless of where they live?
Health Disparities podcast host Bill Finerfrock speaks with Harold Miller, president and CEO of the Center for Healthcare, Quality and Payment Reform and adjunct professor of public policy and management at Carnegie Mellon University. 
Miller says many people assume that when a rural community loses a hospital, it’s one of several options, when in reality, “in many small rural communities, the hospital is the only place to get any kind of health care. It is the only place where, not only where there is an emergency department, but because there's no urgent care facility in the community, there's no other place to get a lab test, there may not even be primary care physicians in the community.”
When it comes to policy considerations to prevent rural hospital closures, Miller says there need to be a greater emphasis on the role private health insurance plans play in putting hospitals at risk.
“The myth, unfortunately, is that the problem of rural hospital payment is all about Medicare and Medicaid, and that has led people to focus, I believe, inappropriately and excessively, on Medicare and Medicaid,” he says, “when what we have found is that the biggest problem for most rural hospitals is private insurance plans who don't pay the rural hospital even as much, in many cases, as Medicare or Medicaid does. … We need to start thinking about how to solve the real problems and to solve them now, rather than waiting until the hospital is faced with closure.”
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Rural health challenges and opportunities, Part 3: The clinicians’ perspective

In our latest podcast series, we’re taking a deep dive on rural health, going beyond the common tropes about rural America – the older, sicker, poorer narrative – and checking in with folks on the ground who are excited to do the work of promoting equitable health outcomes for rural Americans. 
Today, Health Disparities podcast host Sarah Hohman talks with two rural health providers:
Russell Wimmer is a physician associate practicing in a single provider clinic in the small rural town of Brownsville, Oregon.
Dr. Caylor Johnson is a Family Medicine Physician with Medical Specialists, Inc., in Waynesboro, Georgia.
Johnson explains some of the unique challenges facing rural communities, which are incredibly diverse.
“In my county alone, I have multiple communities, and they each have their own challenges, their own culture, their own history and beliefs,” Johnson says. “And that all comes to the table when they come to the doctor, and I have to be prepared for that.”
Wimmer also shares what he loves about providing care in his rural community.
“When you walk around, people talk to you and you know them personally, and they know you,” Wimmer said. “They're not ignorant to the fact that you're working with limited resources. They know that they're remote, they know that it's hard for you to sometimes help them with what they need. But the fact that you're there with them every day is not lost on them. They appreciate everything that you've done. They know that you're what they've got.”
Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.