Category: Cultural Competency

Primary Competency Area

The Science of Trust: Implications for Public Health Research and Practice

Course Objective

  • List key determinants of trust and trustworthiness at the community, population, and patient levels
  • Discuss the impact of trust and mistrust on behavioral and social outcomes as related to a variety of health topics
  • Describe implications of “the science of trust” for public health research and practice

Date: March 7, 2023

Presenter:
Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA, CCL
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health


Renata Schiavo presents on the importance of trust in public health research and practice. She begins by defining “trust” and explaining the importance of gaining trust among communities. Schiavo goes on to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted trust and presents commonly used models of trust. “The science of trust” is then explained by the interconnected nature of biological, social, political and environmental factors, and a new model of trust is presented. Schiavo ends by suggesting implications for practice and next steps

Participants will learn about trust in public health research and practice from Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA, CCL, from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.Participants will be able to:-List key determinants of trust and trustworthiness at the community, population, and patient levels-Discuss the impact of trust and mistrust on behavioral and social outcomes as related to a variety of health topics-Describe implications of “the science of trust” for public health research and practiceRecommended Reading:-Renata Schiavo (2022) The ‘Science of Trust’: moving the field forward, Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 15:2, 75-77, DOI: 10.1080/17538068.2022.2089611https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538068.2022.2089611-Renata Schiavo (Moderator and Roundtable Chair/Organizer), Gil Eyal (Participant), Rafael Obregon (Participant), Sandra C. Quinn (Participant), Helen Riess (Participant) & Nikita Boston-Fisher (Co-Organizer) (2022) The science of trust: future directions, research gaps, and implications for health and risk communication, Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 15:4, 245-259, DOI: 10.1080/17538068.2022.2121199https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17538068.2022.2121199

 

This program has been approved for 1.0 Category I Continuing Education Credit for CHES/MCHES by the Rutgers School of Public Health. The Rutgers School of Public Health is a certified CHES/MCHES provider by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.

This program has been approved for 1.0 Certified in Public Health (CPH) credit by the Region 2 Public Health Training Center. The Region 2 Public Health Training Center is a certified CPH provider by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

Commercial Determinants of Health : A New Framework for Improving Population Health and Reducing Health Inequities

Course Objective

  • Define commercial determinants  of health and explain the historical origins of this concept
  • Identify the  potential and limitations of the commercial determinants of health framework for development of more effective strategies to improve population health and reduce health inequities
  • Discuss key current needs for research, education  and practice on commercial determinants of health

Date: May 3rd, 2022

Presenter:
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH
Distinguished Professor of Public Health
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
Senior Faculty Fellow, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute


In this month’s Log-in2Learn, Dr. Nicholas Freudenberg presents how the commercial determinants of health framework can help reduce health inequities, guided by the belief that another world is possible. He starts by defining commercial determinants of health and reviewing the cascade of public health crises that have happened in the 21st century. He goes over a framework that attributes this cascade and increases in stratification, inequality, and inequity to changes in 6 characteristics of capitalism. He then reviews the importance of changing corporate practices and political and economic structures that harm health, and lists key ideas and strategies that can help tackle that change. He finishes by providing specific examples of how public health professionals can build more alliances and move practice beyond business as usual, and answers questions from attendees.

Participants will be able t0:

  1. Define commercial determinants of health and explain the historical origins of this concept
  2. Identify the potential and limitations of the commercial determinants of health framework for development of more effective strategies to improve population health and reduce health inequities
  3. Discuss key current needs for research, education and practice on commercial determinants of health
Redefining Resilience in the Post-COVID Era

Course Objective

  • Discuss how COVID 19 has exacerbated disparities within health departments.
  • Describe how to utilize trauma informed principles to shift internal policies and procedures to support resiliency amongst staff.
  • Identify the stages of trauma resilience and implementation into policies.
  • Explain the importance of viewing staff as whole people within an equity and resilience framework.

Date: August 3rd, 2021

Presenter:
Mateo Belen, MSW
Trainer and Principle Consultant
A Mateo Consulting


In this month’s Log-in2Learn webinar, Mateo Belen, MSW, discusses how organizations can shift internal policies and procedures to support resilience amongst staff in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. He begins by introducing us to basic trauma informed principles and explains the need to consider impacts based on race and gender. Belen highlights the need to acknowledge racism as a public health crisis and the importance of recognizing its effects amongst our employees in addition to the communities we serve. He then spends time talking about how resilience can be seen as a coping mechanism and how it can be fostered by organizations. He shares effective strategies that can be incorporated into work structures in order to support resilience and provide adequate backing to employees in times of crisis.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Discuss how COVID 19 has exacerbated disparities within health departments.
  2. Describe how to utilize trauma informed principles to shift internal policies and procedures to support resiliency amongst staff.
  3. Identify the stages of trauma resilience and implementation into policies.
  4. Explain the importance of viewing staff as whole people within an equity and resilience framework.
Making Community Colleges and Public Universities Incubators Of Health Equity For Young Adults

Course Objective

  • Describe how the coivd-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, Black Lives Matter and other recent movements campaigning for social justice, and emerging federal higher education policies create an opportunity to strengthen the role of institutions of higher education in promoting health equity among young adults.
  • Explain how community colleges and public universities can contribute to reducing racial/ethnic and class inequities in health, academic and life success among young people enrolled in the community colleges and public universities that serve populations previously excluded from higher education
  • Identify specific roles public health and other professionals in health departments, health care and social service institutions, and higher education can play in the development of equity enhancing policies, programs and environments 
  • Describe how these institutions of higher education can expand and strengthen programs to promote mental health, food security, sexual and reproductive health and health care access, four challenges that can undermine academic success 

Date: June 1, 2021

Presenter:
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, MPH
Distinguished Professor of Public Health City University of New York School of Public Health and Health Policy
Director, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute

Erinn C. Bacchus, MPH
Doctoral Student, Community Health and Health Policy
Graduate Student Assistant, Healthy CUNY

 


In this month’s Log-in2Learn webinar, Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, MPH and Erinn C. Bacchus, MPH, discuss how community colleges and public universities can contribute to reducing racial, ethnic and class inequities in health, academic and life success among young people. After a brief overview of trends related to student demographics, tuition and public support over the past 25 years, the speakers highlight the unique health challenges experienced by students of color and those from low income backgrounds. They then walk us through ways in which universities can move from stratifying students to building equity. These include how to support and engage students to promote health, how to create cultures of inclusion, how to partner with public and private institutions and how to use data to inform strategies. They end by addressing pertinent questions from audience members regarding self advocacy and best ways to hold institutions accountable.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Explain how community colleges and public universities can contribute to reducing racial/ethnic and class inequities in health, academic and life success among young people enrolled in the community colleges and public universities that serve populations previously excluded from higher education
  2. Describe how these institutions of higher education can expand and strengthen programs to promote mental health, food security, sexual and reproductive health and health care access, four challenges that can undermine academic success
  3. Identify specific roles public health and other professionals in health departments, health care and social service institutions, and higher education can play in the development of equity enhancing policies, programs and environments
  4. Describe how the coivd-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, Black Lives Matter and other recent movements campaigning for social justice, and emerging federal higher education policies create an opportunity to strengthen the role of institutions of higher education in promoting health equity among young adults.
The Challenge of Vaccine Hesitancy in the COVID Pandemic

Course Objective

  • Describe the continuum of vaccine acceptance and hesitancy
  • Identify the concerns that underlie hesitancy toward vaccination in general and COVID vaccination in particular 
  • Critique different approaches for achieving high uptake of COVID vaccines

Date: March 2nd, 2021

Presenter:
James Colgrove, PhD, MPH
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences,
Columbia Mailman School of Public Health
Dean of the Postbac Premed Program,
Columbia School of General Studies


This month’s Log-in2learn webinar comes at an opportune time, in the midst of a national vaccine rollout. Our presenter, James Colgrove, PhD, MPH, covers everything you need to know about vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.. He starts off with a brief history of the roots of vaccine hesitancy in the country and explains how these views have developed into the spectrum that we see today. He then shifts his attention to the COVID-19 pandemic, discussing the available vaccine options, their development process and the public’s response to them. He carefully walks us through the different concerns regarding the vaccine and breaks down the demographic characteristics of each group. He lays a heavy emphasis on the need to address hesitancy using targeted strategies that meet the unique needs of each group. He shares a number of approaches to do this and highlights key messages that have been effective. He ends by reiterating the main challenges and the importance of addressing broken relationships and mistrust as we attempt to address vaccine hesitancy during COVID-19.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the continuum of vaccine acceptance and hesitancy
  2. Identify the concerns that underlie hesitancy toward vaccination in general and COVID vaccination in particular 
  3. Critique different approaches for achieving high uptake of COVID vaccines
A public health perspective on dismantling systemic racism: What role for health departments?

Course Objective

  • Explain why state and local health departments have the opportunity, mandate, capacity and imperative to take action to dismantle elements of systemic racism that harm health
  • Give examples of specific actions health departments can take to interrupt pathways by which racially disparate access to healthy food, criminal justice policies, and educational policies contribute to the health burdens of Black, Latinx, indigenous, and other populations of color.
  • Identify one or more ways that they can take action now within their institution to strengthen its actions designed to dismantle systemic racism

Date: September 1, 2020

Presenters
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, MPH

Erinn Bacchus, MPH

Craig Willingham, MPH

City University of New York Urban Food Policy Institute


In this month’s Log-in2Learn, participants learn about three distinct approaches to address the intersections between public health and systemic racism in the United States. Dr. Nicholas Freudenburg, DrPH, MPH, discusses the relationship between the key determinants of health and racism and the need to end the inequitable provisions of education, housing and healthcare by creating communities of opportunity. Errin Bachhus, MPH, addresses racism in the criminal justice system and the role of public health organizations. In light of recent incidents of police brutality, she highlights the need to reevaluate the role of police departments and the best ways for health departments to intervene through programs and policy. Craig Willingham, MPH, examines how food policy can be crucial in increasing racial equity. He reviews the Good Food Purchasing Program and other city-wide efforts and shares how they can be targeted at minority groups to help alleviate inequities. Lastly, the speakers suggest a to-do list for public health organizations to actively make changes to current structures, provide creative examples to inspire action and recommend books to further broaden perspectives.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Explain why state and local health departments have the opportunity, mandate, capacity and imperative to take action to dismantle elements of systemic racism that harm health
  2. Give examples of specific actions health departments can take to interrupt pathways by which racially disparate access to healthy food, criminal justice policies, and educational policies contribute to the health burdens of Black, Latinx, indigenous, and other populations of color.
  3. Identify one or more ways that they can take action now within their institution to strengthen its actions designed to dismantle systemic racism.
Plain Language: What is it? Why does it matter to health? How can you use it to advance health equity?

Course Objective

  • Identify language that makes comprehension difficult for readers
  • Apply basic strategies to make communication more clear
  • Connect to additional resources to advance their understanding of plain language

Date: January 7th 2020

Presenter:
Gretchen Van Wye, PhD, MA
Assistant Commissioner and Registrar, Bureau of Vital Statistics, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene


In this month’s Log-in2Learn, participants will learn the basics of plain language from Dr. Gretchen Van Wye, Assistant Commissioner and Registrar for the Bureau of Vital Statistics for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Gretchen walks participants through basic strategies of clear communication and discusses how plain language is essential to advance health equity.

Participants will learn about the following three lessons about public health communication:

  1. Identify language that makes comprehension difficult for readers
  2. Apply basic strategies to make communication more clear
  3. Connect to additional resources to advance their understanding of plain language
Hair as a Social Determinant of Health Among Black Adolescent Girls
African American Woman

Course Objective

  • School nurses will be able to identify and explain the cultural beliefs surrounding cultural hair practices.
  • Public Health Professionals will acquire the cultural competency to proactively deter childhood obesity among black girls.
  • Local Health Departments will understand the need to direct funding toward interventions and programs addressing the socio-cultural barrier of hair to physical activity of overweight and obese adolescents.

Date: November 28, 2017

Presenter:
Patricia O’Brien-Richardson, PhD, MS Ed
Assistant Professor
Rutgers University School of Public Health


Hair is perceived as a socio-cultural barrier to physical activity among a group that is disproportionately affected by obesity, overweight, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease. Culturally relevant research and subsequent interventions and programs are needed to prevent urban black adolescent girls from becoming inactive, obese adults. In this webinar we will explore hair as a social determinant of health among black adolescent girls. Hair holds special meaning to women and girls of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and has significant value to many women of African descent, and is often influenced by historical, social, and cultural factors.

Socio-structural factors, health disparities, and the uptake of biomedical HIV prevention for Black Men who have Sex with Men (MSM)
Two Black Men

Course Objective

  • Describe how factors not directly related to biomedical HIV prevention (e.g., the labor market, law enforcement, gendered expectations) influence how Black MSM approach HIV prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis
  • Give examples of how factors across multiple levels (e.g., structural, community, interpersonal) impact how Black MSM engage with biomedical HIV prevention
  • Describe what types of multi-level approaches might facilitate Black MSM’s uptake of PrEP. Describe how can we balance the development of more proximate interventions (e.g., education campaigns) with large scale interventions (e.g., expanding insurance access) that might have a larger impact

Date: September 11, 2017

Presenter:
Morgan Philbin, PhD, MHS
Assistant Professor
Columbia University University Mailman School of Public Health


Black men who have sex with men (MSM) are at significantly higher risk of HIV. This is due to a complex interplay between socio-structural factors and their own intersectional identities. In this webinar, Dr Philbin describes her ethnographic study examining how factors at all levels of the social-ecological model shape healthcare behavior for black MSM and how they access PreP, as well as her sub-study about structural barriers to access. Some of these barriers included misunderstanding about PreP’s effectiveness and side-effects, concerns that it would decrease others’ condom use, distrust in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare providers, precarious housing, the structure of the labor market, gendered healthcare systems, institutional and normative gender rules, and stigma. Dr Philbin highlights the importance of reducing barriers at all levels, particularly at the structural level in areas of stigma, employment, and housing. The implications include the need to eliminate the relationship between employment and access to healthcare, enacting policies that regulate shift work (scheduling and pay), creating clinical spaces that welcome all types of men, and expanding the PreP Assistance Program.

Caring for Vulnerable Populations in School Health
Diverse Group of Toddlers

Course Objective

  • Describe how vulnerable populations are identified in the school setting.
  • Give examples of the issues (medical, mental, social) commonly faced by students in vulnerable populations.
  • List methods to increase community and school involvement in the care of students in vulnerable populations.

Date: September 5, 2017

Presenter:
Natalie Mathurin, MD, MPH
Medical Director at Student Health Services
School District of Philadelphia

Cheryl Lawrence, MD
Medical Director at the Office of School Health-Family and Child Health
New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene


Dr. Mathurin and Dr. Lawrence describe the purpose and goals of programs developed to aid children that belong to vulnerable populations using the New York City Department of Health as a case study. The beginning of the presentation considers data about vulnerable populations in New York City and why it is important to address health of children in these populations. The presenters then present the mission, objectives, frameworks, and activities of programs to care for students in vulnerable populations.

Region 2 Public Health Training Center