C2: Critical Conversations that Lie at the Heart of Health Justice

Money is a taboo subject in general, but it’s even more off-limits for women. How does the gendering of personal finance affect women’s financial and physical health? And, what roles do stigma and shame play in achieving financial wellness? Ariana Contreras from Women’s Money Matters joins us to answer these questions, as well as talk about her organization’s approach to a women centered and empowered solution. 

Ariana Contreras is the Senior Community Engagement Manager at Women’s Money Matters. Women’s Money Matters is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit dedicated to building financial wellness, confidence, and security for women and girls living on low-incomes.

Ariana blends her experience in non-profit communication and programming with her background in education to  bring a vibrant energy to Women’s Money Matters. Growing up in a small, resource-limited town in rural Arizona, where opportunities for women, mothers, and people of color were scarce, she found her passion for empowering change through Women’s Money Matters. With an International Affairs degree from Northern Arizona University, Ariana is driven to create a more equitable future. Outside of work, you'll find her sweating it out in exercise classes, exploring new culinary delights, hanging out with her tuxedo cat, Cherie, or soaking up the great outdoors of New England. 

For more information about Women’s Money Matters, check out these links: 

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

What do you get when you mix MCH students & early professionals, passion for advocacy and awareness, and an online platform to bring it all together? The answer looks something like the Maternal and Child Health National Network. MCHNN Leadership Board members Taylor, Tamya, and Alizah talk with us to explain what the MCHNN is, where it's going, and what it hopes to do for those interested in and affected by MCH topics. 

Taylor Parduhn is a second year graduate student at BostonUniversity  School of Public Health where she is concentrating in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation (CAPDIE) andMaternal and Child Health. Taylor is the director of the Maternal and Child Health National Network and is an intern at the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

Tamya Ticconi is a second year MPH student at Florida International University. She graduated from the University of South Florida in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences. Currently, Tamya is the Advocacy Coordinator for the Maternal and Child Health National Network. She also works in the Tampa Bay Area at a Behavioral Health facility where she provides services relating to pregnancy and substance use. Prior to her current position, Tamya established herself as an active member in her community in the reproductive justice and advocacy space. 

Alizah Tariq is a recent MPH graduate from the University at Albany where she concentrated in Epidemiology and pursued a certificate in Maternal & Child Health. She currently is a New York State Public Health Fellow working in the asthma control team at the state health department. Alizah is passionate about health equity and leveraging digital data for overall health and well-being. She loves public health because it has the power to create meaningful, large-scale change by addressing the root causes of health disparities and improving the well-being of entire communities. 

For more information about the MCHNN check out these links:

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

So much of our lives revolve around work. And in the U.S., so do our benefits. Drs. Pamela Joshi and Alison Earle join us to talk about how workplace policies affect women and their families. We explore work as a social determinant of health, the impact of caregiving on women, and international differences in paid leave policies. 

Dr. Pamela Joshi is a senior scientist and the associate director of the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Joshi's research investigates how early care and education, paid family and medical leave, and anti-poverty policies advance children’s equitable access to opportunities and influence family and child health and economic outcomes. She is an expert in equity research methods and has published several policy equity assessments including, most recently, Hispanic and immigrant working families' access to paid family and medical leave programs. She has served on several expert panels including the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Closing the Opportunity Gap for Young Children Consensus Study and currently serves on the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Research Advisory Council. Dr. Joshi received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare Policy from Brandeis University and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Alison Earle is a senior research analyst in work-family policy at the WORLD Policy Analysis Center at the School of Public Health at UCLA, where she leads research projects on how labor and social policies affect the health and economic security of working families in the U.S. and worldwide. Previously, Dr. Earle served as the co-director of the Project on Global Working Families at the Harvard School of Public Health where she managed a research team developing the first truly global database of national labor policies in 193 countries. She conducted some of the first national studies on disparities in access to paid leave and schedule flexibility in the United States, and the first globally comparative analysis of paid sick leave policies. Earle has over 60 publications and has provided expert testimony at Massachusetts congressional hearings on proposed paid family and medical leave and paid sick days legislation. Dr. Earle received a master’s in public policy from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and a doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard University.

For more information about the policies discussed on the show, check out these resources:

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

Maternal and Child Health is powered by academic and community perspectives. But what about the behind-the-desk outlook? On this special episode, we hear from four Boston University School of Public Health students and current MCH fellows through the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health as they share their stories, takeaways, and hopes for MCH’s future.

Fiona Schicho is entering her final year of the dual degree MSW/MPH program, concentrating in macro social work, health policy and law, and maternal child health.  Prior to graduate school, she worked as a clinical research recruiter, served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in research and evaluation, volunteered with a hospice agency, and trained as a birth doula. Fiona believes in the power of public health to create more equitable systems to have and raise children.

Sarah Rowan is a part-time MPH candidate specializing in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation (CAPDIE). She works full time as the Community Relations Specialist for Graduate Medical Sciences at BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, where she oversees communications and manages the GMS Community Catalyst Center (C3). Sarah also co-founded the BUSPH Reproductive Justice Student Alliance (RJSA) in Spring 2024. She loves public health for the opportunity to contribute to sustainable advances in the health and wellbeing of communities.

Jill DeMaria is a rising 2nd Year MPH Student concentrating in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Prior to BUSPH, she served as an AmeriCorps member in the New York City metropolitan area. Besides being a fellow, Jill works full-time as a site coordinator for home healthcare and is currently interning as an infectious disease research assistant with Civilence. Jill loves public health as it is ever-evolving, and she can explore and make an impact in society with her interests in reproductive health, global health, and infectious diseases.

Sargam Choudhury is a student in the 4+1 BA/MPH program at Boston University, concentrating in Healthcare Management. Prior to BUSPH, she was a pre-med undergraduate studying Neuroscience and Medical Anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences. Additionally, she worked as a Clinical Research Assistant for the Dekel Lab at MGH, assisting in maternal and child health research studies. Sargam loves public health because of its interdisciplinary approach to health, as well as the dynamic nature of the field. 

For more information on each fellow’s sites and projects, check out these resources:

Fiona: Our Bodies Ourselves Today and the Bay State Birth Coalition 

https://baystatebirth.org/

https://ourbodiesourselves.org/

Sarah: Accompany Doula Care (and the BUSPH club she co-founded)

https://www.accompanydoulacare.com/

Instagram: @busph_rjsa

Jill: Dr. Lora Sabin’s Lab

https://desmondtutuhealthfoundation.org.za/admin-dthf/news/about-the-sustain-study-supporting-sustained-hiv-treatment-adherence-after-initiatio

https://www.bu.edu/sph/profile/lora-sabin/

Sargam: Dr. Collette Ncube’s Lab (website coming soon!)

https://www.bu.edu/sph/profile/collette-ncube/

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

We often hear that kids today “are always on their phones”—but aren’t adults also spending increased amounts of time online? Dr. Monica Wang joins us to talk about how technology has changed lives across all generations and how it can be used to change our health (for better and for worse). We specifically explore digital redlining and health misinformation as two facets of technology that have an impact on youth health. 

Dr. Monica Wang is Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She is a globally recognized and award-winning researcher, educator, and thought leader on health equity, racial justice, and community-based research targeting chronic diseases. Dr. Wang has generated over $6 million in federal and foundation funding for her program of research and published over 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts and policy documents. Her prior leadership roles included serving as Chair of the Narrative Office at the BU Center for Antiracist Research and Chair of the Civic and Public Engagement Committee at the Society of Behavioral Medicine. 

Dr. Wang has received numerous national, regional, and institutional awards for her research, teaching, and service, including the 2023 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health from the National Minority Quality Forum and the 2022 Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Leading the Narrative Award for her op ed on COVID-19 vaccine equity. She served as a consultant to one of the largest social media companies in the world on COVID-19 health misinformation management. Her work and insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, The Boston Globe, and CBS. She obtained her doctoral and master's degrees from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

For more information about digital redlining check out these resources:

Dr. Wang’s recently published JAMA article: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2816265

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

Sex education, colloquially referred to as “sex ed,” carries a variety of meanings depending on when and where you grew up in the United States. Why is there so much variance in what is taught and how does this affect young folks, especially those belonging to the LGBTQIA community? Dr. Sophie Godley joins us to answer these questions and more as we try to make sense of the good, the bad, and the politics of sex ed. 

Dr. Sophie Godley is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health. She also serves as the Associate Director of the Kilachand Honors College at Boston University. Her areas of expertise include implementing science-based prevention programs and incorporating popular media into public health education. Dr. Godley has served as the director of the Office of Adolescent Health and Youth Development at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Deputy Director of the AIDS Action Committee in Massachusetts.

For more information about sex education check out these resources: 

Advocates for Youth. https://www.advocatesforyouth.org/

SIECUS. https://siecus.org/

GoAskAlice @ Columbia University: https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

In the second episode of this 2-part series, we continue our conversation with Dr. Lisa Erlanger. Join us as we explore the foundations of weight-inclusive primary care and “peel back the onion” that is diet culture. We also discuss how research and everyday discourse about weight can be misleading and what we can do to fix these misconceptions.

Dr. Lisa Erlanger is a board-certified family physician and Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Washington. She is a leader in the growing movement for weight-inclusive primary care and speaks nationally about anti-fat bias, weight-inclusive primary care, and eating disorders. 

For more information about Dr. Erlanger and her work you can find here: https://sites.google.com/view/drlisaerlanger

For more related information go here: Association for Size Diversity and Health: https://asdah.org/

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

You walk into a doctor’s office for an appointment, and what is the first thing you are asked to do? Step on a scale. For some, this experience or number fails to generate a heightened response. However, most of us have complicated and deeply personal relationships with our body and weight. Have you ever stopped to question why all doctor’s visits start this way? Or, have you ever wondered why you have been made to feel so preoccupied with your body and size in the first place?

Dr. Lisa Erlanger joins us to help explore these questions and more in the Season 3 premiere. Dr. Lisa Erlanger is a board-certified family physician and Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Washington. She is a leader in the growing movement for weight-inclusive primary care and speaks nationally about anti-fat bias, weight-inclusive primary care, and eating disorders. Join us as we dive into weight stigma’s definition, history, and impact on marginalized populations in this first part of a 2-episode series. 

For more information about Dr. Erlanger and her work you can find here: https://sites.google.com/view/drlisaerlanger

Find out more about the organization mentioned during the podcast here:

Medical Students for Size Inclusivity: https://sizeinclusivemedicine.org/

For more related information go here:

Association for Size Diversity and Health: https://asdah.org/

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant 6-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.

Welcome to Season 3 of C2: Critical Conversations that Lie at the Heart of Health Justice! Becca Rohac introduces the season as the new host and shares what listeners can expect from Season 3. We hope these episodes serve you in learning and carrying conversations around health justice issues with your peers, families, and communities. Hello again to those returning and welcome to those joining! We hope you enjoy listening!

There exists an alluring public perception of substance misuse among young adults in high school and college. Drugs and alcohol are strategically marketed to adolescents, and this has profound public health consequences. Various examples from television, film, and social media highlight a glamorous and glorified portrayal of substance abuse. We welcome Dr. Noel Vest, PhD to the podcast to discuss the implications of substance use disorders on the development and well-being of adolescents. Dr. Vest is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. As a formerly incarcerated scholar, Dr. Vest advocates for social justice issues and public policy concerning substance use disorder recovery and prison reentry. Join us as we discuss what puts adolescents at a heightened risk of developing a substance use disorder, what the current state of research is, and Dr. Vest’s personal and professional motivations for doing work in this field. 

Resources used in the production of this podcast:

⁠https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/drug-and-alcohol-use-reported-youth-juvenile-facilities-2008-2018-statistical⁠

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/addiction-substance-use-disorders/what-is-a-substance-use-disorder

The production of this podcast was supported by Grant G-T76MC00017-27-01 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Its contents are solely the responsibility of the host and guests of this podcast episode and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HHS.