It’s important that health care workers provide quality health care. But when it comes to addressing health disparities, clinical care can only go so far, says Dr. Diana E. Ramos, an OB/GYN who now serves as California’s first Latina surgeon general. 

“It would be wonderful if that 10-minute appointment that a patient just saw me for made the biggest difference in the patient's life. That's not the reality,” Ramos said. “We have to [take] into consideration the environment that the people live in.”

Ramos says cross-collaborative partnerships between health care providers and community partners are critical to addressing health disparities.

In the latest episode of the Health Disparities podcast, host Dr. Claudia Zamora speaks with Dr. Ramos about what these kinds of cross-collaborative partnerships can look like, and what it takes to improve the health and wellbeing of people in California – and the nation.

Many envision influencers as social media stars with vast followings. But being an influencer is so much more than that. In today’s episode, we redefine the term across various sectors, from health to social justice, and delve into how you can activate your network by using your influence.

One thing influencers do is share information throughout their communities to spread awareness about important issues, says Beth O’Connor, the executive director of the Virginia Rural Health Association, 

“People want to know more,” O’Connor says. “And people who are often in those mineral age groups are thrilled to be able to share that information with the people in their communities helping to influence health care policy.”

This week on the Health Disparities podcast, hosts Sharon LaSure-Roy and Sarah Hohman discuss strategies for being an influencer and making a difference with O’Connor, along with Taelor Bakewell, vice president of influence marketing with Edelman, Jerail Fennell, director of marketing and communications at 904WARD, and Dr. Maria Portela Martinez, chief of family medicine at the department of emergency medicine with George Washington Medical Faculty Associates.

Nonprofit organizations rely on funding to execute their mission, but steady funding is not always easy to come by. So, what can leaders of nonprofits do to attract attention — and resources — from foundations and corporations with money to give?

Many funders want to understand an organization’s impact — and quantifying and conveying that impact can take many forms, says Velma Monteiro-Tribble, former director of grants and programs for the Florida Blue Foundation.

“People think that there is money lying around; money is tighter today,” she said. “And people are looking at those that really can tell the story... Quantifying, to me, doesn't mean that it's always in data and statistics. It’s also through storytelling. And I think that organizations, nonprofits especially, should be in the business of doing that today.”

This week on the Health Disparities podcast, hosts Rev. Willis Steele and Dr. Erick Santos join Monterio-Tribble and Al Reid, the former VP of corporate development with Abbott Laboratories. Together, they delve into valuable insights and strategies for attracting funders during challenging times.

In a nation where healthy choices often take a back seat, Dr. Marc Watkins, chief medical officer at Kroger Health, advocates a transformative shift: viewing food as medicine.

Watkins is spearheading a mission to eradicate food insecurities, paving the way for a healthier America. 

“If we’re going to change the way America eats, we have to lead around making sure we have a variety of foods in our stores that represents an adequate format of foods that makes sense for Americans to purchase at the right price,” Watkins says. 

This week on the Health Disparities podcast, host Dr. Mary O’Connor and special guest Marc Watkins, M.D., discuss the strategy Kroger Health is using to empower customers to make informed and health-conscious choices at the grocery store.

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, 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.

Many people who go into medicine come from well-off families and don’t know what it’s like to live in poverty. So when they graduate and become physicians, they can struggle to understand why their therapeutic interventions aren’t improving the lives of their patients.

This, according to Dr. Pedro José Greer Jr., is because med schools have not done a great job helping their students understand the social determinants of health — the many nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes.

“It's not for the student physician to be able to resolve the social determinants, it's for them to really understand what they are,” Greer said. “Without understanding all these other things, we're not going to make [the] right therapeutic calls.

“The health outcomes in this country are embarrassingly bad,” he added. “So we have to be driven to improve those disparities.”

Greer is an American physician of Cuban descent and founding dean of the Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Medicine. He spoke with Health Disparities podcast host Claudia Zamora about how to improve medical education, why diversity matters, and why it’s critical that med schools train doctors to show compassion and empathy for their patients.

The conversation was recorded in person at the 2023 Movement Is Life annual Health Equity Summit.

Movement is important for a person’s health and well-being. The good news is: many activities that promote movement come with enormous benefits that extend beyond physical health. 

Today’s discussion features the founders of two organizations that aim to promote physical activity — and build community while doing it. 

Walk with a Doc began in 2005 after Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio, invited his patients to go for a walk with him in a local park. The program has since spread to more than 500 locations.

Semilla Cultural, founded by Isha M. Renta López, is a non-profit organization in the Washington, D.C., area that promotes the development and cultivation of a community that embraces Puerto Rican culture and arts, including by teaching and performing the Puerto Rican musical genre of Bomba.

Sabgir and López spoke with Health Disparities podcast hosts Dr. Hadiya Green and Christin Zollicoffer. This conversation was recorded in person at the 2023 Movement Is Life annual Health Equity Summit.

Dr. David Ansell’s book “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills” was first published in 2017. In a foreword for the book updated in 2020, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote that “Three years before the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. David Ansell published The Death Gap, brilliantly synthesizing what he experienced in decades of practicing medicine in two utterly different medical worlds that were mere blocks apart. What makes this book so compelling is that rather than focusing exclusively on data and statistics, Dr. Ansell makes these gruesome numbers real. He tells the story of the disparities through the real-life experiences of patients with whom he had deep, committed relationships.” 

In today's discussion Dr. Ansell reflects on the collision between the ongoing epidemic of social and structural determinants of health, and the pandemic of COVID-19. He also shares recommendations for ways that healthcare providers can bring together quality, safety and equity in medicine. 

David A. Ansell, MD, MPH, is Senior Vice President for Community Health Equity for Rush University Medical Center and Associate Provost for Community Affairs for Rush University System for Health, Chicago. 

Dr. Carla Harwell is Medical Director, University Hospitals Otis Moss Jr. Health Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, CWRU School of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine; and Vice Chair for the Board of Directors at Movement is Life. 

(c) Movement is Life 2023

Can equitable real estate development organization Parity help solve Baltimore's empty housing problem and build Black wealth? Founder Bree Jones and her backers are making it happen. According to a profile in Baltimore Magazine, Bree Jones counts herself among a generation of young Black Americans who are being spurred to activism by high-profile killings of unarmed Black people. These are people who demand accountability on issues involving race, violence, and equality in the U.S.

For Bree Jones, a central solution is revitalizing neighborhoods – without gentrification. Her organization, Parity, a non-profit equitable real estate development company, is working in Baltimore to do just that. Visit https://www.parityhomes.com/ for more information. 

In this episode of The Health Disparities Podcast, Bree Jones tells the story of Parity, and discusses why building Black wealth and impacting social determinants is so important to health, and why so many high profile investors are getting behind the initiative. 

With host Dr. Michelle Leak, Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida,  and member of the board of directors for Movement is Life. 

The Health Disparities Podcast is a program of Movement is Life. This episode was recorded live and in person at Movement is Life’s annual health equity summit. The theme this year was “Bridging the Health Equity Gap in Vulnerable Communities.”

(c) Movement is Life 2023

Our guests are health equity practitioners Christin Zollicoffer and Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason, who discuss programs and initiatives that are making headway in dismantling structural racism with episode host Claudia Zamora. Together they explore a number of different examples and critical success factors that contribute to success, and mention some common mistakes that organizations may make when establishing initiatives. This is the fourth and final episode in our mini-series focused on systemic bias and systemic racism, and we end with constructive forward steps and an optimistic outlook. 

Christin Zollicoffer is Chief Belonging and Equity Officer at Lifespan Health System. Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason is the inaugural Medical Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the American College of Surgeons. Claudia Zamora is a consultant who serves on the Board of Directors for the National Hispanic Medical Association and the Board of Directors for Movement is Life.

0:01 Excepts | 2:30 Introductions |5:30 Dr. Simpson Mason shares solution examples | 6:30 Different levels of experiencing oppression | 7:20 Increasing access via Nth Dimensions pathway programs | 9:30 Equity Matters ACGME | 10:45 Medical specialty societies education & communication | 11:45 Christin Zollicoffer shares solution examples | 12:15 Four levels of racism: internalized, interpersonal, institutional, structural | 12:15 Baking in DEI for patients & employees | 15:00 Employee resource groups role | 15:30 Workforce education and skills building | 16:30 Integration of equity practices | 20:15 Community based program Operation Change | 24:00 Importance of trauma informed lens | 29:00 Equity as the 6th domain of care (IOM) | 31:30 Addressing data collection to support equity | 34:00 Claudia Zamora shares examples including NHMA programs | 37:30 Critical success factors for programs e.g. change management & working with the “moveable middle” | 40:10 Definition of equity | 42:15 Common mistakes e.g. tokenism & placing DEI under HR | 46:00 Speaking the language of health equity | 49:00 Are things changing?   

© Movement is Life 2023