Tag: health equity

Connecting the Dots With Systemic Thinking for Equitable and Healthiest Communities

Course Objective

  • Define key concepts, including: systems, systemic thinking, equity, social justice, and complexity.
  • Explain how systemic thinking links to existing frameworks for equitable and healthier communities.
  • Demonstrate use of two tools for exploring deep leverage points.
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Date: January 11th, 2022

Presenter:
Priti Irani, MSPH
Research Scientist
Office of Public Health Practice, New York State Department of Health

In this month’s Log-in2Learn, Priti Irani, MSPH connects system thinking to the revised 10 Essential Public Health Services, which put health equity at the center. She begins by introducing the New York State Prevention Agenda, and defining key concepts of justice, systemic thinking, and targeted universalism. She then illustrates a concrete application of systems thinking by going through the example of food insecurity in New York State as a complex problem. She demonstrates how to use the iceberg model to look for hidden structures and mental models, as well as a causal loop diagram to find deep leverage points that guide interventions for greater impact. Finally, she shares additional online resources to continue the learning and application of systems thinking, and answer questions from live webinar participants, including incorporating paradigm shifts into different jobs.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define key concepts, including: systems, systemic thinking, equity, social justice, and complexity.
  2. Explain how systemic thinking links to existing frameworks for equitable and healthier communities.
  3. Demonstrate use of two tools for exploring deep leverage points.
Reducing Promotion and Consumption of Ultra-Processed Food

Course Objective

  • Define and explain the impact of ultra-processed food on human and planetary health
  • List factors that contribute to the ubiquity of ultra-processed foods
  • Describe how health professionals can raise public awareness of the harms of ultra-processed food via media literacy and social marketing
  • Identify at least two policy interventions to address misleading product packaging and unhealthy product formulations
  • Describe how taxation and regulation approaches can be used to combat ultra-processed food
  • Describe strategies to promote and subsidize healthy food and beverages, including tap water
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Date: June 30th 2021

Subject Matter Experts: 
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, MPH
Distinguished Professor of Public Health, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy & Director, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute

Craig Willingham, MPH
Deputy Director, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute

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

Jessica Walsh, MPH
Assistant, CUNY School of Public Health

This two-part course developed by the Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC) aims to understand ultra-processed food and explore how health departments can combat the promotion of ultra-processed food.

In Part I, we will develop a better understanding of ultra-processed food, and how it promotes negative health outcomes particularly for some populations.

In Part II, we will explore how health departments can combat the promotion of ultra-processed food.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Define and explain the impact of ultra-processed food on human and planetary health
  2. List factors that contribute to the ubiquity of ultra-processed foods
  3. Describe how health professionals can raise public awareness of the harms of ultra-processed food via media literacy and social marketing
  4. Identify at least two policy interventions to address misleading product packaging and unhealthy product formulations
  5. Describe how taxation and regulation approaches can be used to combat ultra-processed food
  6. Describe strategies to promote and subsidize healthy food and beverages, including tap water
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 
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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.
Reducing Obesity and Diet-Related Diseases by Limiting Predatory Marketing of Unhealthy Food

Course Objective

Learning Objectives for Part I: Understanding Predatory Marketing

  • Define targeted and predatory marketing.
  • Distinguish between different types of predatory marketing, with examples.
  • Describe digital media avenues used for predatory marketing.
  • Explain how targeted marketing of unhealthy food leads to negative health outcomes, particularly for certain populations.

Learning Objectives for Part II: What Health Departments Can Do to Combat Predatory Marketing

  • Describe ways to increase awareness of predatory marketing in communities.
  • Describe how local, state and federal governments can regulate predatory marketing.
  • List at least 2 actionable strategies for communities to decrease predatory marketing practices.
  • List 3 policy measures that could be taken to limit predatory marketing of unhealthy food at the city/local, state OR national level.
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Launch Date: June 30th, 2020

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

Unhealthy food is the leading cause of premature death and preventable illness around the world today. Predatory marketing makes a significant contribution to this burden. Public health professionals can play an important role in reducing the prevalence and exposure to predatory marketing. This two-part training module develops an understanding of the current landscape of predatory marketing of unhealthy food and beverages, and how it promotes negative health outcomes particularly for vulnerable populations. This program will define the role of health departments in addressing predatory marketing, outline ways health departments can help document predatory marketing in their communities, and provide recommendations and examples of policy engagement activities public health professionals can get involved in.

Learning Objectives for Part I: Understanding Predatory Marketing

  • Define targeted and predatory marketing.
  • Distinguish between different types of predatory marketing, with examples.
  • Describe digital media avenues used for predatory marketing.
  • Explain how targeted marketing of unhealthy food leads to negative health outcomes, particularly for certain populations.

Learning Objectives for Part II: What Health Departments Can Do to Combat Predatory Marketing

  • Describe ways to increase awareness of predatory marketing in communities.
  • Describe how local, state and federal governments can regulate predatory marketing.
  • List at least 2 actionable strategies for communities to decrease predatory marketing practices.
  • List 3 policy measures that could be taken to limit predatory marketing of unhealthy food at the city/local, state OR national level.
Social Inequality and Health Disparities in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Course Objective

  • Identify key trends in health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic to date
  • Describe how the pandemic exacerbates existing social inequalities
  • Examine several proposed interventions to address health disparities in the pandemic response
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Date: June 2nd, 2020

Presenter:
Alexandra Zenoff, MPH.
Senior Program Manager
East-West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI)

In this month’s Log-in2Learn webinar Alexandra Zenoff discusses the role of structural racism in health disparities, how this affects health outcomes and the need to address it. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated social inequalities and considering the social determinants of health is crucial to alleviating this issue. Drawing insights from historic and current public health efforts can help with designing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The importance of building on existing best practices like community consultations and appropriate data collection is discussed. Participants are provided with articles for further learning and resources such as the COVID-19 racial tracker and CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index.

Participants will learn about the following:

  1. Identify key trends in health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic to date
  2. Describe how the pandemic exacerbates existing social inequalities
  3. Examine several proposed interventions to address health disparities in the pandemic response
COVID19: Using a Health Equity and Human Rights Lens to Protect Vulnerable Populations during this Pandemic and Beyond

Course Objective

  • Discuss why COVID-19 is a health equity issue
  • Identify key principles of the health equity and human rights frameworks to protect vulnerable and marginalized populations during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
  • Describe the role of community engagement and advocacy during this pandemic and beyond
  • List sample strategies for transformative and long-lasting change
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Date: April 7th, 2020

Presenter:
Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA, CCL
Senior Lecturer, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences
Founder and President, Board of Directors, Health Equity Initiative

In this month’s Log-in2Learn Webinar Dr. Renata Schiavo discusses the challenges faced during COVID-19 through a health equity lens. Pandemics are complex circumstances that thrive on inequalities and weak health and social systems. Vulnerable populations are not able to adequately adhere to safety measures and bear the burden of pandemic impacts. The webinar explores how a Social Determinants of Health approach should be implemented to address inequalities during a pandemic.The course also highlights risk communication, community engagement and advocacy as key strategies to support this agenda.

Participants will will be able to:

      1. Discuss why COVID-19 is a health equity issue
      2. Identify key principles of the health equity and human rights frameworks to protect vulnerable and marginalized populations during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond
      3. Describe the role of community engagement and advocacy during this pandemic and beyond
      4. List sample strategies for transformative and long-lasting change
Region 2 Public Health Training Center