Podcast

One of the recurring themes linked to healthcare in the United States is that where the need is greatest, there you are likely to find the fewest resources needed for resilience to challenges. This is particularly true during a disaster. A year into the COVID pandemic, the St. Bernard safety-net hospital in the South Side of Chicago received an “F” grade on its safety report. Deploying the Just Culture model and collaborative change principles, they rose to a “B” rating in 2022, and at the time of publishing this episode in May, 2023, St. Bernard Hospital has now scored an “A” Grade. Listen as 3 members of the team share their experiences with this success.

Dr. April Kapu, is president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP). She has 30 years of experience in health care and 18 years as an acute care nurse practitioner (NP). In today's episode, which is hosted by NP and rural health expert Mary Behrens, we hear about Dr. Kapu's  experiences of meeting NPs across the country during her year of presidency. NP Behrens and Dr. Kapu also discuss some of the reasons why being an NP is now widely considered to be one of the most rewarding careers in healthcare, and explore the importance of building diversity in the profession.

This episode presents some aspects of the proven Purpose Built Communities model, working with local leaders to help them plan, implement, and sustain holistic neighborhood revitalization initiatives that create healthy neighborhoods which include broad, deep, and permanent pathways to prosperity for low-income families. This discussion describes the essential role of “community quarterbacks,” and calls upon listeners to look with open eyes and think about the systems that have kept people trapped in poverty, particularly Black and Brown people, and to not blame the victims. The systems have been broken for so long that they have “broken the place,” but the people remain unbroken.  So, when we think about building communities of purpose for children with unlimited human potential, we can find ways to create great places with a “cradle to college pipeline,” and we can change the systems to make it easier to create other great places.

This episode includes a discussion about enhancing the health of every community, and the challenges of building healthier communities against a backdrop of declining health infrastructure, particularly in rural communities. It also discusses the reality of the "elephant in the room," that racism exists both in terms of attitudes and bias, and in various structural forms, and how building trust is vital to the displacement of bias. 

This episode discusses work on the frontline of maternal child health in New York City, where recent policies to standardize treatments are part of efforts to replace outdated race-based decision-making with more equitable care. This insightful conversation covers several discussion areas: 1) the importance of the concept of belonging and 2) the need for patients to receive care from people who look like them, and the challenges in increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce.

Following on from a workshop titled “JEDI Journey: This is the Way,” our diverse panel discusses the importance of processes such as integrating the social determinants of health (SDOH) into information systems via Z codes to advance Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) & anti-racism. The group also explores achieving workforce diversity. With pointers towards actionable steps and resources, this episode takes DEI up a notch, acknowledging this is both hard work and heart work.

People live and work in social communities, where a huge amount of information that drives decision making around health is disseminated person to person by community voices. Our panel of Hispanic health leaders discusses how achieving health equity requires healthcare providers to utilize social influence as a way to improve population health.  

In this episode, recorded at the annual Movement is Life caucus, episode host Dr. Charla Johnson invites Dr. Mammen to talk about her work with the Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation, her role as Senior Medical Director, Office of Clinical Integrity at Walgreens, and as adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Mammen also discusses some of the themes from her presentation at the caucus, Walgreens: Advancing Health Equity with Community Engagement. 

“The Race Cards” is an interactive resource kit and activity designed for small groups. Working to end racism so that everyone thrives requires some uncomfortable conversations to be facilitated, because too often discussions about race either stay at the surface level or happen only among audiences steeped in knowledge about sociology, history, systemic racism, and privilege. The Race Cards create a safe space for an honest, authentic discussion in a way that is accessible to everyone. This episode reflects on the practical application of The Race Cards and reports on their use in a workshop at the Movement is Life annual caucus.

COVID-19 impacted mental health in fundamental ways, forcing isolation and insecurity on individuals, families, and communities. This episode explores ways we can rebuild resilience as we transition from pandemic to endemic, with particular emphasis on social support and discusses how isolation has had a particularly damaging influence on alcohol and drug addiction rates and overdoses, with limited access to emergency mental health services contributing to poor outcomes.

Diversity as a goal has been considered a compelling reason (and legal precedent) for higher education institutions to apply policies which attempt to correct the effects of intentional and structural discrimination impacting gender, race, and ethnicity. Our esteemed panel of healthcare stakeholders and health equity advocates share personal experiences of how affirmative action has benefitted them, and the Hispanic and African American healthcare workforces in general.

Addressing the under-representation of racial minorities in the health professions is considered central to reducing overall health disparities and inequalities. In this episode of the Health Disparities Podcast, we unpack the origins of affirmative action and discuss the foundational impact of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, the role of the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Higher Education Act of 1965, and current judicial deliberations. Depending on how SCOTUS rules on overturning affirmative action, the long battle to desegregate higher education in the United States could take a backwards step. But are there alternative approaches?

This episode shares some of the ways in which CVS is investing in health equity, particularly at the local level, by leveraging the strong engagement that CVS has with many underserved communities. Initiatives discussed include investments in specific “Health Zones” and affordable housing.

We visit San Diego’s Salvation Army Kroc Center for an Operation Change Town Hall welcoming the local Hispanic community. Our interviews reveal how Operation Change is much more than a wellness program, it is a true community intervention. In this episode we learn how information shared during the Operation Change sessions ripples out into the wider community.

In Part 2 of our Caucus Workshops Preview, Dr. Millicent Gorham, Dr. Mary O’Connor and podcast host Rolf Taylor discuss the “Movement” workshop series from the Movement is Life Caucus which convenes on November 10-11, 2022.

In Part 1 of our Caucus Workshops Preview, Dr. Millicent Gorham, Dr. Mary O’Connor and podcast host Rolf Taylor discuss the “Activism” workshop series from the Movement is Life Caucus which convenes on November 10-11, 2022.

This Town Hall at the South Side YMCA in Chicago is a welcome return to community gatherings (since Covid-19 put things on hold), and an opportunity for past participants of Operation Change to reconnect, and also introduce new people to the program.

The Movement is Life Annual Caucus is a major event on the health equity conference calendar. Join Caucus Chair Dr. Mary O’Connor and Movement is Life’s inaugural Executive Director Dr. Millicent Gorham for a preview of this year's caucus, “Health Equity Beyond the Headlines.” For further information visit: www.movementislifecaucus.com/2022-caucus/

Neal Neuberger has spent the past 35 years in Washington as a recognized leader for healthcare and information technology policy and strategy. In this episode, he will discuss telemedicine and the effect it can have on health disparity in rural areas. With host Bill Finerfrock.

Medical notes capture information that informs decision making. They can also reveal how healthcare providers are judging their patients, and patients reading those notes can feel offended, shamed and stigmatized by what they read. Drawing from her work as a Latina primary care clinician and health equity advocate, and as a Harvard Professor, Dr. Fernández highlights the importance of language and culture in medicine and in our medical notes. In this episode,we explore how language and literacy shape our ability to offer equitable, meaningful, and respectful care to Latinx, Black and other marginalized populations.

We often hear about the role of microaggressions, macroaggressions, and atomic aggressions during discussions about health equity. Often driven by unconscious bias, microaggressions are intrinsic to the processes of marginalization, racism and sexism that impact both patients and providers during the complex interactions that occur every day in the healthcare setting. How do we go about reducing and eliminating these types of harmful behaviors and transgressions? Can raising awareness at the grassroots level and then legal remedies at the policy level work in tandem to change behavior and provide protection? Today's episode explores these questions from a variety of perspectives, touching on the importance of fostering an inclusive culture for diverse students heading towards healthcare professions, and how this will also benefit patients.

Dr. Mary O’Connor invites fellow surgeon and singing sensation Dr. Elvis Francois to share his story. Dr. Elvis found fame on "The Masked Singer" after recording and posting inspirational performances accompanied by fellow physician Dr. William Robinson. In this episode, Dr. Elvis talks about the importance of integrating humanity into medicine, and how the emotional connections created through our shared love of music inspire resilience and healing.

Baton Rouge has created a culture of health through its public private partnerships. Using many creative approaches, Baton Rouge seeks to blend cooperation, competition, and personal responsibility, with civic leadership, health equity and community resources. Featuring Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, Coletta Barrett from the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, and NAON President Dr. Charla Johnson.

Google and YouTube have done a pretty good job of organizing the internet in a way that makes it quick and easy to find that one thing or website we need out of literally billions of options - including health information. In this episode, Dr. Graham and Dr. Gorham explore the theme of meeting people where they are, particularly where that place is an individual’s phone, and the individual is sharing their front of mind concerns about health with either a Google search or searching YouTube via their mobile phone. Dr Graham believes we are entering a new era of health information, a journey that all of us are already on. The key challenge is to make science central to that journey, so that even if we are receiving health information via social media, it is both factual and helpful.

As COVID-19 emerged during early 2020, people all over the world were feeling similar negative emotions. Operation Change leaders were learning the extent to which participants were feeling let down and unsupported, so they urgently looked for solutions. In this episode, our panel of Operation Change community leaders reflect on the impact that COVID had on the groups they had convened, and share some of the ways they responded to the pandemic.

For this episode of the Health Disparities Podcast, three members of the LaSure extended family gathered at the annual Movement is Life caucus to discuss their tradition of working in service to the greater good, a tradition which goes back many generations. Their discussion touches on aspects of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that these family members have witnessed in different spheres of service, but where similar patterns rise to the surface and reflect ever evolving norms in the context of racial diversification, inclusion, and advancement.  

Hawaii has long held the record for the highest average life expectancy in the US. The islands also enjoy some of the lowest COVID-19 infection and mortality numbers along with high vaccination rates. Dr. Green attributes near-universal healthcare coverage and a strong emphasis on primary care with Hawaiians good life expectancy, but Native Hawaiians live comparatively shorter lives. Parts of Hawaii are still in many respects the frontier, with poverty rates exacerbated by COVID’s impact on tourism, and difficult access to specialist care being important aspects of the disparities equation.

Back in the early days of the pandemic, SUNY Downstate President Dr. Wayne Riley found himself leading a major health system responsible for the care of some of the most vulnerable communities in New York City through unprecedented times. As the hospitals filled up with COVID patients his teams had to simultaneously support their staff and plan their response for patients. Dr. Riley discusses some of the immediate steps they had to take in response, from dealing with a lack of PPE to mitigating an immediate oxygen shortage. Many hospitals have found themselves stretched to breaking point both financially and in terms of staffing, and many hospitals have closed. Dr. O’Connor and Dr. Riley discuss the vital role that safety net hospitals play in care of patients in both urban and rural environments, and the margin pressures and funding shortfalls that are causing a crisis in the care of underserved populations.

Diversity as a goal has been considered a compelling reason (and legal precedent) for higher education institutions to apply policies which attempt to correct the effects of intentional and structural discrimination impacting gender, race, and ethnicity. Our esteemed panel of healthcare stakeholders and health equity advocates share personal experiences of how affirmative action has benefited them, and the Hispanic and African American healthcare workforces in general. The discussion also explores affirmative action policy milestones, the positive impact these policies have had on overall workforce diversity and STEM education programs, and other knock-on effects such as increasing diverse participation in clinical trials.

Recorded at the Movement is Life Caucus, our panel of health law thought leaders continue their discussion about the shaping of American law to reduce health disparities and protect human dignity.  Featuring Frank McClellan, JD, LLM, Law Professor Emeritus from Temple University and author of “Healthcare and Human Dignity”; D. Deone Powell, ESQ, from HIV and primary care organization Philadelphia FIGHT; Cara McClellan, JD, from The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; and caucus keynote speaker Daniel Dawes, JD, from Morehouse School of Medicine, author of “150 Years of ObamaCare” and “The Political Determinants of Health.”

Dr. Calvin Johnson, MD, MPH, has built his varied career at the intersections of medicine, data science, and public health. This episode explores a wide range of topics related to health equity in a fascinating discussion, including the historical significance of Morehouse School, the importance and vulnerability of safety net hospitals, addressing the enduring issue of limited access to care for some populations, and the importance of data analysis and proactive information dissemination for problem solving and crisis management.

Kelly Bruno, President & CEO of the National Health Foundation joins us to discuss healthcare for the homeless. California has a disproportionate share of the nation’s homeless population, approximately 161,000 of the total homeless population of 580,000. The National Health Foundation, a California-based organization focused on recuperative care in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, offers medical respite care programs as an equitable pathway to health and housing for people experiencing homelessness. It’s an approach that can mitigate some social determinants and barriers to care and build community in the process.

October is Physical Therapy Month, and this year the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has a new campaign. Orthopedist Dr. Mary O’Connor meets with Dr. Hadiya Green Guerrero, a senior practice specialist at APTA, and Dr. Drew Contreras, APTAs Vice President of Clinical Integration and Innovation, to discuss the #ChoosePT campaign. Dr. Green Guerrero and Dr. Contreras also share some of the reasons they became physical therapists, and explore the many benefits of PT, including its potential for addressing chronic conditions and health disparities. Dr. Contreras also shares the advice that he gave to help President Barack Obama move more, something which everyone can follow. 

“From the health community, we recognize that climate change is a public health issue, and we stand ready to address that. I’m so proud that this administration has named the first office in HHS that is going to address Climate Change and Health Equity.”  ~ Dr. Doris Browne. Sequel to Episode 101.

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), originally called Workplace Affinity Groups, began in the 1960s in response to racial tensions in the United States. These groups have roots in the desire to advocate for employees and give them a space at work to be their best authentic selves. To what extent are ERGs making a difference in benefiting employees, their employers, and the many stakeholders engaged with organizations, including patients?

In her book Flatling, released in 2019, Dr. Adia Wingfield articulated how the burden of equity initiatives furthering diversity and inclusion in healthcare is being disproportionately shouldered by the very populations these initiatives intend to support. Today our panel revisits Flatlining and explores the additional implications of the pandemic for equity work during this “new-new economy,” and discuss some of the challenges and solutions in leading organizational change towards culturally sensitive care and minority representation.

After experiencing care that did not align with her expectations, Sheena Franklin has embarked on a mission to make dermatology more accessible and equitable. In today’s episode K’ept Health CEO Sheena Franklin discusses how innovation can take us closer to personalized and equitable healthcare.

Our diverse panel of professionals share many experiences that shaped their development, and insights they gleaned along the way, as they overcame barriers such as bias and microaggressions to achieve their career and life goals.

Part 2: COVID-19 context. A group of independent and competing organizations decided to work together collaboratively so that their community health needs assessment (CHNA) covers more people and a larger area. Our panel continues their discussion about this novel, collaborative, community-wide model for completing a CHNA, and explores how it enabled them to build a more coordinated response to the pandemic.

Part 1. Community health needs assessments and implementation strategies are required for tax-exempt hospitals as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They provide a framework to improve coordination of hospital community benefits with other efforts to improve community health.

After building a career in hospital management and healthcare consulting, Duane Reynolds gravitated towards the health equity space after leading several inclusion-focused initiatives.

June 5th is World Environment Day, an initiative of the United Nations, and part of the framework that ended the ozone layer crisis. But now there are new environmental crises looming large and threatening our most vulnerable populations.

Podcast host Sharon LaSure-Roy and series producer Rolf Taylor discuss the overall mission of The Health Disparities Podcast, a program of the Movement is Life Caucus.

Professor Augustus “Gus” White III didn’t just pioneer the understanding of unconscious bias through research methodology during his illustrious career as an orthopedic surgeon. The author of “Overcoming” & “Seeing Patients” has also spent a lifetime fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion wherever he has worked, often by emphasizing our common humanity – his use of the term “fellow humans” to start speeches has become legendary.

At the height of the pandemic, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nur Nurbhai found himself helping out his colleague Dr. Eddie Black in the emergency room. All elective surgeries were cancelled, cutting off a vital revenue stream for the hospital.

This week our panel discusses the approaches that their organizations, community leaders and faith leaders have taken with bringing pandemic vaccine clinics to underserved populations, and their commitment to equitable vaccine distribution.

The community health design and innovation team at Sibley Memorial Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, invited communities in DC’s Wards 7 & 8 to help define their own solutions to health disparities and inequities. The resulting Ward Infinity social innovation program is now a model for community intervention.

For many years a familiar face on CBS in Washington DC, and winner of 22 Emmys, Bruce Johnson has made health awareness and equity part of his life’s mission. In this episode Bruce joins podcast host Dr. Mary O’Connor to explore the power of the media to solve our health disparities crisis.

More than 181 million Americans receive health coverage through employers, the largest source of health coverage for the nonelderly, covering 58% of the U.S. population.

Dr. Omolola (Lola) Eniola-Adefeso and Dr. Kelly Stevens are part of a nationwide network of BME women faculty who are collectively arguing that the racial funding disparity by NIH is the most "insidious barrier to success of Black faculty in our profession".

Recently featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list, M.D. candidate Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, M.S. channels a passion for health equity and racial equity to produce and host “Flip the Script”, a highly rated podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify.

Dr. Nereida Correa, who began her career as a registered nurse, became the first Hispanic woman to be named chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, a large, hospital-based group practice in the Bronx.

With new payment models further complicating a difficult situation, are some Kentucky residents struggling to get the care they need and the respect they deserve from rural healthcare systems that are under increasing strain?

With more and more physicians choosing specialty care over primary care, Nurse Practitioners have an increasingly important role as providers on the front line, serving more vulnerable populations who experience limitations in accessing healthcare, particularly in rural areas.

Rural communities experience significant health disparities along with the above-average prevalence of chronic conditions, and a lower-than-average ratio of providers to patients.

Podcast host and NYC Physician Assistant Klarisse Mathis welcomes two colleagues and mentors. Infectious disease specialist Sondra Middleton, MHS, PA-C, is Assistant Professor at the Touro School of Health Sciences, and Associate Director of Physician Assistant Manhattan.

Dr. Dwight Burney welcomes back orthopedic surgeon and outcomes expert Dr. MaCalus Hogan, M.D., M.B.A. to the podcast. Dr. Hogan is the Vice Chair of Education, and Residency Program Director, in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a health system serving 3 million patients.

Dr. Jannifer Harper welcomes rural health and legislative affairs expert Bill Finerfrock, and Root Cause Coalition Director Tom Dorney, who previously served as Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman John Lewis.

Dr. Mary O’Connor hosts a discussion about the potentially detrimental impact of value-based care models on vulnerable populations, and how the safety-net hospitals that serve these patients are further strained, particularly in rural and inner-city areas.

Risk is an intrinsic part of medical decision making. Every drug and every procedure must justify their benefit relative to any risks involved, so healthcare providers are very conscious of these risks and outcomes.

Dr. Sherry Segura continues our exploration of Hispanic education and workforce diversity. Dr. Segura is CEO of the Foundation for Hispanic Education in San Jose, California, where she is deeply involved in community efforts to ensure high quality and innovative educational services are available to all students.

Ed Alvarez is President at the Latino Education Advancement Foundation in the San Francisco bay area, collaborating with other experienced nonprofits in developing initiatives focusing on college and career pathways, college persistence and completion.

Dr. Leigh Callahan is Professor of Medicine & OAAA. As an epidemiologist, Dr. Callahan seeks to understand how outcomes of osteoarthritis are influenced by factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, location, and social determinants of health (such as socioeconomic status).

When healthcare quality management expert Donna Kurek made the switch to a more rural hospital system, she realized that there exists a whole different set of social determinants to consider in Appalachia, especially in the context of bundled payments.

Physician Assistants are a relatively new specialty created in response to the shortage of primary care physicians in rural areas, and the PA profession is now well established with over 100,000 graduates of accredited PA programs.

Orthopedist Dr. Eric Santos sees a diverse range of patients in his two Texas practices in Corpus Christi and McAllen, which have very different patient populations. He works hard to provide culturally competent healthcare services to his Hispanic patients, which includes providing consultations in both Spanish and English.

Rural Wyoming is a beautiful place to live, but those wide-open spaces on the frontier create a number of health disparities, with the presence of Native American reservations, COVID-19, and hospital closures adding more complexity.

Operation Change is a community intervention designed to address chronic health conditions and to mitigate some of the related social determinants of health, for women in mid-life and later-life. A fundamental part of the program is to help participants find their own sources of motivation for creating a healthier lifestyle.

Operation Change provided Lynn with invaluable knowledge and a new support network. In her 70s and busy in retirement with volunteer work, Lynn became more conscious of her diet, her physical activity levels, and she became a FitBit enthusiast.

Mt. Vernon, N.Y. resident Olivia found new motivation to take care of her own health by learning about health disparities in her community.

Bringing clinical research to Latinx communities has become a joint mission for today’s podcast guests, Dr Fabian Sandoval and Dr Gustavo Corrales.

The relatively low uptake of flu vaccinations in Black and Hispanic communities is a longstanding health disparity and a public health concern. What if this pattern is repeated for the coronavirus, which is already having a disparate impact?

Meet Freda from St. Louis. Over many sedentary years Freda experienced chronic conditions such as back pain, diabetes and high blood pressure and she found it difficult to follow her doctor’s directions to exercise and lose weight. “I desperately needed to garner better health habits, or I would have deterioration in my conditions and need […]

Meet Sonja from St. Louis. Sonja was intrigued when her husband brought home a flyer describing a health education program soon to start nearby.

Meet Laura from San Diego. Like many women of retirement age, she has experienced the joys of building a family and the challenges of staying healthy.

Dr. Elena Rios has dedicated her career to improving the health of Latinx communities. In 1994, she co-founded the National Hispanic Medical Association based in Washington DC which represents approximately 50,000 Hispanic physicians across the United States.

When Congressman Anthony Brown was Lt. Governor of Maryland, he implemented a new model for reducing health disparities: the creation of Health Enterprise Zones.

Living in rural Kentucky has its challenges, and Deanna at 74 was feeling unhappy that she had constant back pain and her health seemed in decline.

We revisit our Operation Change series with a trip to Hazard, Kentucky. Wanda initially thought an 18-week health education program was a huge time commitment, and that maybe it was too late to make changes.

Five young health professionals and an experienced mentor make the future look brighter as they share insights and experiences of overcoming bias and racism.

Despite progress, heart disease remains the #1 cause of death in America. Not only does heart disease have a disproportionate impact on different populations, it also has a direct bearing on the severity of COVID-19 infection.

It’s a well-known fact that women do better with female doctors, and minorities do better with doctors that look like them, but both demographics are underrepresented in surgical medicine.

Dr. Augustus White is a pioneering African American physician and Harvard Professor and a leading researcher and writer about unconscious and implicit bias in medicine.

There are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the United States, all of which were promised healthcare and other services as part of resettlement programs. But having limited democratic power and leverage, health services for Natives have been neglected over many decades.

With Florida emerging as the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, care providers in Jacksonville knew they had to intervene decisively with a testing plan for all populations, including the most vulnerable.

Operation Change Chicago was the prototype of this community intervention program, and has run numerous series that have enabled the model to evolve.

Every iteration of Operation Change has a unique aspect. There may be certain chronic health conditions that are common to urban, suburban and rural communities, but the needs of different communities vary greatly.

Historic St. Louis was the location for an Operation Change program led by Darlene Donegan, an educator and yoga teacher who is very active in her community.

Based in the Salvation Army Kroc Center in eastern San Diego, Miriam Rodriguez and her team used their local connections to build the first Operation Change program to be delivered in the Spanish language.

In this podcast program leader Hazella Rollins LaVar shares some insights into the content and impact of the Operation Change initiative at Grace Baptist Church, New York. Grace Baptist is in Mount Vernon, Westchester County, on the fringes of New York City.

Chicago community leader Christin Zollicoffer discusses how Operation Change has evolved and explores some of the profound and life-changing experiences she has witnessed working with her local participants.

Dr. Yashika Watkins details some of the underpinnings of the Operation Change program and shares insights into how the program can be replicated. This is the first in a series of podcasts exploring the Operation Change program, which will include testimonials from program leaders and participant case reports.

Every month millions of patients visit Orthoinfo.org, a patient oriented orthopedics website from AAOS. Dr. Stuart Fischer leads the editorial team, which produces the content and translates articles into multiple languages.

A multitude of key health disparity indices show that we have not seen significant progress in narrowing the gap between minority and majority populations since the landmark report “Unequal Treatment” in 2003.

Dr Rahn Bailey discusses how for decades discrimination has played a central role in health disparities, and how gun violence compounds the problem through traumatic experiences, chronic stress and behavioral consequences.

Reverend Willis Steele hosts a discussion about the impact of COVID-19 in Southern states with Dr. Pernessa Seele, the CEO and founder of The Balm in Gilead, a faith-based organization that provides support to people and their families with chronic diseases such as diabetes, as well as working for the prevention of HIV and AIDS.

Speaking at the university where she was the only female and only African American student in her class, and in the auditorium named for her, Healing Hate conference keynote speaker Dr Vivian Pinn reflects on progressing her career during eras of segregation, discrimination, and civil rights.

Bill Finerfrock, Executive Director at the National Association of Rural Health Clinics, hosts an in-depth discussion about rural health disparities with a panel of experts from across the US.

Christina Jimenez, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado, and an expert in the processes of privilege that can both limit and promote opportunities for individuals, dependent on factors such as race, ethnicity, gender and class.

Medical anthropology may not be the first discipline we associate with public health, but it provides perspectives that are vital to understanding the many and complex intersections at the root of health disparities.

Professor Dayna Bowen Matthew is a leader in public health who focuses on structural and racial disparities in health care. In this podcast she discusses vast inequalities we see in health access and health outcomes between majority and minority populations, which she says are derived from systematic segregation, discrimination and racism.

Privilege is when a person or group enjoys an unearned advantage over other(s). As the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted, those with less privilege often pay the ultimate price in times of crisis.

Marking National Nurses Week 2020 and the bicentenary of Florence Nightingale's birth, nurse advocates and leaders from across the U.S. meet to celebrate the nursing profession and discuss many topics, including its diversity, future aspirations, and their nursing heroes. Featuring Rose Gonzalez, Millicent Gorham, Charla Johnson, Julie Kneedler, Doreen Johnson, and Mary Behrens.

Alameda County is home to 1.7M diverse Californians who have long experienced health disparities. Alameda Hospital System (AHS) CEO Delvecchio Finley takes us inside the workings of AHS as they adapt to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people of color is rightly making headlines. Reverend Dr. Franklyn Richardson of Grace Baptist Church in New York, a national leader for social justice, has seen his online church attendance blossom from 2,000 to 9,000 live-streams, and his church is feeding at least 500 families very week.

As a physician interested in health policy, UPMC orthopedic surgeon MaCalus Hogan MD, MBA, has helped develop cutting edge approaches. The University of Pittsburgh payer-provider model enables innovations in technology and delivery models, including value-based approaches that pre-date the Affordable Care Act era.

The circumstances around early childhood development have ramifications throughout a person’s life. Ronnie Musgrove, Governor of Mississippi between 2000 and 2004 discusses his conviction that early intervention is vital to good outcomes across education, health and the local economy.

Healthcare payment systems are so complicated that when it comes to fitting all the pieces together, hope may be the dominant strategy. Too often, policies and initiatives designed to improve healthcare quality hit a roadblock in payment systems, and the money cannot follow good intent.

Care providers taking care of joint replacement and broken bones are having to adapt their practices during the pandemic. In this podcast orthopedic surgeons from Connecticut, Georgia and Pennsylvania meet online to discuss some of the changes their health systems are making.

Dr. Claire Pomeroy continues her discussion with Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason, considering how extensive rural poverty underpins rural health disparities, and how these are being made worse by hospital closures.

The COVID-19 podcast everyone needs to hear. Four experienced doctors working on the frontlines of healthcare share their words of wisdom. Together they discuss the important subjects...

Social determinants of health, the life circumstances in which we are born, educated, work and play, are powerful drivers of as much as 90% of our health status. Lasker Foundation President Dr Claire Pomeroy discusses ways that race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, the safety of our neighborhoods, having good access to food, and feeling part of a community all combine to impact health.

Nobody can ignore the COVID-19 pandemic. But will some communities be hit harder than others? What are the implications for people with diabetes and obesity? Will everyone be able to access care if they need it?

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, FAAP, FACP, FTOS is an obesity medicine physician scientist, educator, and policy maker at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She is a national and international sought-after expert in obesity medicine who bridges the intersection of medicine, public health, policy, and disparities.

Fixing the incredible dysfunction of the healthcare system has been a career guiding light for Adrienne White-Faines, MPA, FACHE. Since electing to stay on the policy and strategy side of healthcare, she has held leadership roles with the American Cancer Society, the Primary Care Collaborative, and most recently as CEO of the American Osteopathic Association.

Known by most as simply “Father Greg”, Father Gregory Boyle founded Homeboy Industries, Inc. in Los Angeles to provide pathways out of violence through education, employment and community support.

This year’s Vanguard Award winner is Dr. Patricia McManus, founder of the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin (BHCW).

Orthopedic surgeon Tamara Huff, MD was inspired by her mothers’ interest in carpentry (and her power tool collection) to take her medical career path, ultimately leading to the operating room.

Although fee-for-service payments may encourage volume without rewarding quality, bundled payments may incentivize providers to avoid patients more prone to complications...

In some faith-based communities there has been an evolving sense of what constitutes transformation and salvation. Harlem native Rev. Willis Steele discusses the health needs of the congregations and communities he works with, his experience of integrating health into faith practice, and how mental health support can be complementary to spirituality.

Yale hip and knee surgeon Daniel Wiznia, MD, used a “secret shopper” methodology to research and reveal patterns of appointment making that seem to indicate a marked preference for commercial insurance on the part of some surgery providers, which creates a barrier to access for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Working in Wyoming where there are only two humans per square mile (on average), nurse practitioner Mary Behrens, MS, FNP-BC, FAANP provides vital health care capacity to mainly rural populations. In this podcast she describes the role of the nurse practitioner, a discipline that is growing rapidly. She also discussed some of the ways a nurse practitioner can help reduce health disparities – from recognizing the unique and complex needs of patients with comorbidities, to facilitating physical therapy and physical activity. With Rose Gonzalez.

As a practicing orthopedic nurse, teacher, and the president of the New York chapter of the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses, Doreen Johnson, MSN, RN, ONC brings many years of experience to her patients, students and colleagues. In this episode of the Health Disparities Podcast she discusses the importance of work done by the Movement is Life Caucus and Steering Committee in developing resources designed to reduce MSK disparities. Doreen believes it is vital to remind arthritis patients that “sitting is the new smoking”, and that physical activity is key to breaking the vicious cycle of health conditions worsening each another, particularly arthritis pain, diabetes, heart disease and depression. With Rose Gonzalez.

Researcher Shreyasi Deb, PhD, MBA, became interested in health disparities when studying economics, and has since applied this perspective to understanding public health. At the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, Shreyasi is looking at the positives and negatives of bundled payment models and the unintended policy consequences around value-based care. Are some patients already experiencing inequity and exclusion? Can we address the unique socioeconomic and multiple comorbidity aspects of each patient in a post fee-for-service world by spending more on social services? With Bill Finerfrock.

When an accomplished surgeon sees his own father struggle with arthritis, he knows there are some structural problems in play. HSS surgeon Dr. Michael Parks shares some insights into the processes behind health disparities (or health differences as he prefers to say).

Tammy Huff, MD discusses how rural health disparities are driven by many logistical challenges in remote and underserved areas, where limited public transport and hospital closures make access to care increasingly difficult.

Deborah Coplin-Hall, MS, RN and Carla Harwell, MD discuss how nurses have been at the forefront of screening patients for social determinants for decades, only now are social determinants and cultural competency being taught, structured and systematized.

Brigham and Women’s nurse Sasha Dubois, MSN, RN discusses how racial segregation, gentrification, and displacement in her native Boston can create “healthcare access deserts” that fuel health disparities, even in an area where there are a number of high-quality hospitals.

Lyn Peugeot MSN, RN, is a nurse focused on hospice care, and has recently completed her doctoral research project looking at dementia diagnosis in African Americans. She discusses her concerns about the relatively low percentage of African Americans who choose hospice care, which may be less about access and more due to misperceptions about the role of hospice and its implications.

Dr. Debra A. Toney PHD, RN, FAAN, is Vice President of Quality Management at Nevada Health Centers, President of NCEMNA and a past president of NBNA. She discusses her groups approach to population health management in Nevada, a primarily rural population where remoteness is a major factor in health disparities.

Pediatric ICU nurse Carter Todd RN, MS, CCRN, switched from athletics to nursing and this changed his life completely. On graduation he realized he could help both his community and the nursing profession by advocating for greater workforce diversity.

Incoming NBNA President Martha Dawson, DNP, RN, FACHE, shares her priorities for the organization as she becomes its 13th President. As the NBNA approaches its 50th anniversary in 2021, Martha is planning to highlight its founders and past leaders, and to focus on emphasizing the importance of meeting patients where they are, before they get sick.

Eric J. Williams, DNP, RN, CNE, FAAN, is a Professor of Nursing and the outgoing President of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA). Eric talks about some of the priority initiatives at NBNA during his leadership, and how NBNA has built on its mission to improve health equity in America since its founding in 1971. As well as discussing the importance of treating violence as a public health crisis and building a culture of health, Eric discusses ways that we can move beyond cultural competency to attain the higher skill level of cultural proficiency – skills that are good for healthcare and the wider world. Eric also discusses an important new initiative to increase diversity in the nursing workforce, working in collaboration with AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. With Carla Harwell, MD.

Cleveland, Ohio native Carla Harwell, MD has had “boots on the ground” working to eliminate health disparities in the Cleveland area for many years. As an African American setting up a primary care private practice in an underserved location, Carla was very conscious that zip codes often define health and determine life expectancy, along with other social determinants. She set out to do something about this reality by providing a local alternative to clinics and hospitals, taking a 360-degree view of her patients, and encouraging patients to keep moving. With Bonnie Mason, MD.

Orthopedic nurse and Louisiana native Charla Johnson, RN, MSN, ONC, discusses zip code related health disparities on opposite banks of the Mississippi. Charla shares some effective ways to spark changes that improve quality of life, and she believes that education programs must be tailored to people’s unique circumstances, taking into account access to the household and community resources that people need to be successful. A proponent of balance exercises and Tai Chi, “Motion is lotion” is one of her favorite mantras. Charla also discusses how all healthcare professionals can work together and bring their voices and connections to the battle against health disparities, helping to bring about positive change in local communities. With Rose Gonzalez.

Millicent Gorham PhD (Hon), MBA, FAAN, is the Executive Director of the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA), a long-time "Movement is Life" collaborator, and a champion of the health benefits of physical activity. Here she discusses how the NBNA is leading many facets of minority representation and participation in healthcare. With Rose Gonzalez PhD, MPS, RN.

Physical therapist Shawn Tucker provides care that is informed by adverse childhood events (ACEs), trauma and toxic stress, all of which can contribute to the development of chronic health conditions in adulthood. Trauma informed care seeks to address the root causes of unhealthy behavior by helping to resolve previously hidden and unexplained conflicts. Do populations who experience more ACEs have higher prevalence of chronic conditions, and can toxic stress help explain health disparities in the obesity pandemic? With Rolf Taylor.

New York pastor and community leader Rev. Dr. Franklyn Richardson discusses his ministry at the historic Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York. Putting health education at the heart of the church has been part of a long history of working for civil rights and social justice. Dr. Richardson discusses the challenges facing African American communities, the importance of self-advocacy, overcoming the digital divide, and recognizing the roles that race and bias play in health disparities. With Rolf Taylor.

Increasing diversity and inclusion in the medical profession has made progress, not least because of leadership from orthopedic surgeon and Harvard Professor Augustus White. For many decades he has called for healthcare to be seen as a human right intrinsic to the pursuit of happiness. Dr. White was the first African American graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine, and the first African American surgical resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital. In this podcast Dr. White discusses the importance of mentoring, having a strategic mission for inclusion, challenging racism, and the groups most affected by health disparities. With Dr. Bonnie Mason Simpson.

To be human is to have bias and all are likely to be part of a disadvantaged group but some groups have more disparities than others. Two orthopedic surgeons take the lid off one of medicines "dirty little secrets", discussing ways in which unconscious bias towards race, ethnicity, gender, class and condition results in better outcomes for some than others. Unless physicians can recognize and tackle their own unconscious biases, they may continue to be out of sync with their patients, and the nation will be sicker for it. With Professor Mary O’Connor and Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason.

Law Professor and bioethics expert Frank McClellan's new book focuses on the importance of human dignity in healthcare. In this podcast he explores how the evolution of health systems has driven an agenda of cost-containment and shifted the burden of financial accountability, often compromising care management and widening disparities for the most vulnerable groups of patients. A new act aims to protect patients by requiring that the consequences of new payment models are researched and adjusted for by CMS, helping to build health equality across race, ethnicity, gender and geography. With policy expert Bill Finerfrock.

An orthopedic surgeon's perspective on health disparities. Dr Mary O’Connor believes that new outcomes-based payment models such as bundled payments are exacerbating health disparities by ignoring the huge variance in circumstances for patients, and forcing providers to exclude more complex patients. In the real world, patients are getting very different care because of their race, gender, location and economic means, and some patients are squeezed out of the system completely through a process of "cherry picking and lemon dropping". Health inequities are widening as a result. Is risk-adjustment - incorporating social determinants - part of the solution?