The Health Disparities Podcast

Town Hall Meeting 1: Operation Change celebrates resiliency in Chicago

It’s been over two years since COVID-19 put everyone’s plans on hold. Community wellness programs such as Operation Change had to be paused, and everyone did their best to stay healthy in their homes during lockdown. This Town Hall at the South Side YMCA in Chicago is a welcome return to community gatherings, and an opportunity for past participants of Operation Change to reconnect, and also introduce new people to the program. Join us as we ask attendees why Operation Change has meant so much to them, and why Operation Change is such an important and effective community intervention. Featuring participants from the Operation Change Chicago community, and with Town Hall speakers Dr. Carla Harwell and Rev. Dr. Evelyn Dixon.

Movement is Life Caucus November 2022 Preview 1: Plenary sessions

The Movement is Life Annual Caucus is a major event on the health equity conference calendar. With the theme of “Health Equity Beyond the Headlines,” this year’s meeting convenes an outstanding group of leaders who are defining and implementing real solutions to health inequities. Join Caucus Chair Dr. Mary O’Connor and Movement is Life’s inaugural Executive Director Dr. Millicent Gorham for a preview of the plenary sessions and a discussion about the future mission and direction of Movement is Life, which is now an independent nonprofit organization. For further information  visit: www.movementislifecaucus.com/2022-caucus/

Can telemedicine reduce rural and other health disparities? Featuring Neal Neuberger.

Neal Neuberger has spent the past 35 years in Washington as a recognized leader for healthcare and information technology policy and strategy. In this episode, he will discuss telemedicine and the effect it can have on health disparity in rural areas. With host Bill Finerfrock.

The power of our voices: Thinking about the language we use in medicine, and the positive consequences of open notes. With Dr. Leonor Fernández.

Medical notes capture information that informs decision making. They can also reveal how healthcare providers are judging their patients, and patients reading those notes can feel offended, shamed and stigmatized by what they read. Drawing from her work as a Latina primary care clinician and health equity advocate, and as a Harvard Professor, Dr. Fernández highlights the importance of language and culture in medicine and in our medical notes. In this episode,we explore how language and literacy shape our ability to offer equitable, meaningful, and respectful care to Latinx, Black and other marginalized populations.

From surviving to thriving: Building personal resilience in the era of micro, macro, and “atomic” aggressions.

We often hear about the role of microaggressions, macroaggressions, and atomic aggressions during discussions about health equity. Often driven by unconscious bias, microaggressions are intrinsic to the processes of marginalization, racism and sexism that impact both patients and providers during the complex interactions that occur every day in the healthcare setting. How do we go about reducing and eliminating these types of harmful behaviors and transgressions? Can raising awareness at the grassroots level and then legal remedies at the policy level work in tandem to change behavior and provide protection? Today's episode explores these questions from a variety of perspectives, touching on the importance of fostering an inclusive culture for diverse students heading towards healthcare professions, and how this will also benefit patients.

Featuring Dr. Elvis Francois. Behind the Masked Singer, a lifelong passion for music as medicine.

Dr. Mary O’Connor invites fellow surgeon and singing sensation Dr. Elvis Francois to share his story. Dr. Elvis found fame on "The Masked Singer" after recording and posting inspirational performances accompanied by fellow physician Dr. William Robinson. In this episode, Dr. Elvis talks about the importance of integrating humanity into medicine, and how the emotional connections created through our shared love of music inspire resilience and healing.

Healthy “coopetition” in action. With Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, Coletta Barrett and Dr. Charla Johnson.

Baton Rouge has created a culture of health through its public private partnerships. Using many creative approaches, Baton Rouge seeks to blend cooperation, competition, and personal responsibility, with civic leadership, health equity and community resources. Featuring Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, Coletta Barrett from the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, and NAON President Dr. Charla Johnson.

Dr. Millicent Gorham in discussion with Google/YouTube’s Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health, Dr. Garth Graham.

Google and YouTube have done a pretty good job of organizing the internet in a way that makes it quick and easy to find that one thing or website we need out of literally billions of options - including health information. In this episode, Dr. Graham and Dr. Gorham explore the theme of meeting people where they are, particularly where that place is an individual’s phone, and the individual is sharing their front of mind concerns about health with either a Google search or searching YouTube via their mobile phone. Dr Graham believes we are entering a new era of health information, a journey that all of us are already on. The key challenge is to make science central to that journey, so that even if we are receiving health information via social media, it is both factual and helpful.

How can community programs such as Operation Change adapt during a pandemic?

As COVID-19 emerged during early 2020, people all over the world were feeling similar negative emotions. Operation Change leaders were learning the extent to which participants were feeling let down and unsupported, so they urgently looked for solutions. In this episode, our panel of Operation Change community leaders reflect on the impact that COVID had on the groups they had convened, and share some of the ways they responded to the pandemic.

A LaSure Family Tradition: Service to Nation & Equity

For this episode of the Health Disparities Podcast, three members of the LaSure extended family gathered at the annual Movement is Life caucus to discuss their tradition of working in service to the greater good, a tradition which goes back many generations. Their discussion touches on aspects of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that these family members have witnessed in different spheres of service, but where similar patterns rise to the surface and reflect ever evolving norms in the context of racial diversification, inclusion, and advancement.