Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity’s Post

How do health systems ensure high-quality, affordable, and equitable care is delivered throughout their country? Today we were honored to be joined by guest lecturer Dr. Klaus B Von Pressentin, Chair of the Division of Family Medicine in the Department of Family, Community and Emergency Care (FaCE) in the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Cape Town to help us sort this out! He shared several key lessons from the South African 🇿🇦 context, where primary health care and the relatively young specialty of Family Medicine are a clear national priority. "Rooted in relationships," Family Medicine physicians focus on: ➡ Delivering holistic clinical care attuned to the bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of health; and ➡ Leading quality and safety efforts, bridging the gaps between individual and community - and between clinical and public health - in order to address the "quadruple disease burden." They are keenly aware of their need to be "socially accountable" for providing care that engenders trust, while playing additional roles, such as community advocate and change agent. Klaus and his colleagues are part of ensuring the next generation of Family doctors are prepared to lead the delivery of high-quality care throughout South Africa, en route to reaching the SDGs. UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences South African Academy of Family Physicians #familymedicine #primarycare #healthsystems #healthcare #publichealth #globalhealth #healthworkforce

"Switching from "addressing social determinants" to "creating vital conditions" facilitates health equity and community health work in various ways. First, the goal of creating vital conditions is clearer and more accurate. It is more accurate because social determinants are not "determinant," as they do not automatically confer negative outcomes for those born into communities made marginalized. Additionally, this goal is clearer because of the ambiguity of "addressing" upstream factors. For example, health care often claims to address social determinants through efforts to screen patients for individual-level health-related social needs and to then refer them to local community services. Does a referral truly "address"? Does helping an individual patient secure safe, stable housing make a dent in the more upstream issue of a community's lack of humane, affordable housing? Conversely, ensuring all communities have breathable air or safe outdoor spaces are unambiguous goals, even if the path there is not uniform. In fact, that lack of a one-size-fits-all approach to the vital conditions is another strength: While the goal is inclusive and universal, achieving it is hyperlocal and allows for the kind of collaborative, multisector, context-dependent solutions that authentic community engagement seeks to produce." Thanks Philip M. Alberti for the thoughtful reflection in this article!

What mental model do we have of physicians: technicians, gardeners, customer service agents, servants, witnesses? Wrote about this in a previous book, calling out Paul Farmer for thinking of physicians as those who accompany patients. This lovely story summarizes some of the lessons he taught us all. 1. Every person matters 2. Practice accompaniment 3. Approach everyone with a hermeneutic of generosity 4. Make equity the core of global health practice 5. Resist socialization for scarcity on behalf of others 6. Tackle structural and social determinants of diseases 7. Engage communities 8. Irrigate clinical deserts 9. Be in it for the long haul 10. Counter failures of imagination https://lnkd.in/gt5_6VVT

🎤 Excited to share that I was interviewed by Alan Morrissey on Clare FM this morning! 🎤 It was great to be on Morning Focus in my home county of Clare this morning, discussing key insights from the My MS My Needs survey. 🏥 Neurorehabilitation: A major concern nationally is the inadequate neurorehabilitation services. Only 2% of those surveyed accessed neurorehabilitation services, with 60% unaware of them. In CHO 3, which includes County Clare, the Community Neurorehabilitation Team has only half the minimum recommended staffing. This shortage leads to lengthy waiting lists of up to 6 months. Early access to neurorehabilitation is crucial to promote recovery and prevent further disability for conditions like MS. The slow rollout of CNRTs and lack of sustainable funding for long-term programmes, such as MS Ireland’s physiotherapy programme, further exacerbate these issues. 🧠 Access to Neurology: Regional disparities are evident, with 19% waiting over six months for their last neurologist appointment. 💸 Financial Strain: Nearly 20% of respondents face financial difficulties due to their condition. We hope these survey results will spark real change, leading to significant improvements in the care and support available for those living with MS nationwide. A big thank you to Clare FM Radio and Alan Morrissey for giving us the platform to highlight these key issues for Clare. Listen to the clip below! https://lnkd.in/eSeDmfWn #MSIreland #MultipleSclerosis #Advocacy #Healthcare #ClareFM #SurveyInsights #MyMSMyNeeds Multiple Sclerosis Ireland Magdalen Rogers

If you look for the benefits of social support & the detrimental impacts of loneliness/marginalisation/isolation, you will find overwhelming evidence everywhere in the research literature. For still developing children & young people, this is amplified to the extent that insufficient access to social support has life long consequences for health & flourishing. This is why instead of fetishising curriculum, policy makers should have ensured that community rebuilding / relational or trauma informed practice was the collective post pandemic obsession. It’s not too late.

This special issue focuses on the need to address inequities in sexual and reproductive health.

The American Journal of Public Health published an exclusive supplemental issue showcasing 25 @NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) editorials and papers focused on community-engaged research during the COVID-19 pandemic.   Leveraging the Power of Communities During Public Health Emergencies, highlights: 💪 the power of community in addressing public health issues 📝 meaningful community engagement that advances research and 🤝 CEAL partnerships fostering trust in science   Access the full supplement to explore lessons learned from COVID-19 pandemic and the pivotal role community-engagement can play in future public health emergencies: bit.ly/47zQ1at Donald Nease, Montelle Tamez, Mary Fisher, MPH, CHES, Bethany Kwan, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado School of Medicine

On World Health Day, let's spotlight a remarkable teen making waves in the medical field: Meet Bernice Tang, an 11th Grader from The Bishop Strachan School, in Canada, whose passion for cancer research shines through with over 3 years of hands-on laboratory experience, resulting in 2 publications currently in process. Bernice is also the driving force behind the Ontario Saves Lives (OSL) campaign, advocating for CPR/AED implementation in schools through student advocacy and workshops. Do you aspire to be a medical researcher and changemaker? Let us know in the Comments Section. #WorldHealthDay #MedicalResearch #TeenChangemaker #STEM #HealthAwareness

How do we train doctors who can engage patients, families, AND communities? How do we train doctors who understand that their patients' hemoglobin A1c has more to do with what's happening in their zip code than what's going in their medicine cabinet? How do we train doctors who can assess the most pressing public health needs in a community just as well as they can triage their patients' most pressing health concerns? You help them to connect with community members over time, to understand the experiences and history and concerns that shape their lives, and to work alongside them to address the issues that matter most to the communities we serve. This August at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, we're launching #CommunityConnect, a new service-learning program that will connect more than 180 of our incoming students with community organizations throughout Buffalo that are directly supporting community members, especially in historically disinvested neighborhoods. And this won't just be directly supporting healthcare, our students will be focusing on food security, housing and homelessness, refugee support, environmental justice, Indigenous health, youth and elderly services, family support services, community outreach, and more. So incredibly proud and appreciative of the work that Sarah Jones, MPH and Fatima Y Nor, MPH, Public Health Fellows from the Erie County Department of Health, have put in over this past year to connect with 100+ community-based organizations in Buffalo, build and develop #CommunityConnect, and create a program that will help to train the kind of doctors that our communities need for the future. And to top it all off? I get to work alongside the amazing Mike Lamb, educator and community connector extraordinaire, as my partner in #GoodTrouble as we embark on this exciting new voyage! Interested in knowing more? Want to find ways to support our community partners and #CommunityConnect? Get in touch - we'd love to hear from you! #StayTuned #Buffalo #ServiceLearning #MedicalEducation

We recently added a new company to our health portfolio with an investment in Zócalo Health. Zócalo is a digital healthcare platform that provides Latinos with culturally competent and community-oriented care. Nearly 1-in-5 Latinos are uninsured and 58% say they prefer a Spanish speaking doctor. Co-founders Erik Cardenas and Mariza H. started Zócalo to give the Latino community simpler access to healthcare. The start-up provides patients access to primary care, behavioral health, social services, care coordination, complex care management, and urgent care. The company uses community health workers to engage and build trust with Latino patients and help Medicaid payors—31.4% of Medicaid beneficiaries nationwide identify as Hispanic—better serve a large and underserved demographic. At Acumen America, we are always looking for companies with a specific focus on impact. Zócalo’s vision aligns with our goals to increase access to healthcare for a growing and historically marginalized population by leveraging tech-enabled solutions with a community focus. Zócalo currently operates in Texas, California, and Washington and is looking to expand to more states. Learn more about Zócalo at: https://www.zocalo.health/