We’ve officially kicked off The RISE Summit on Social Determinants of Health, with more than 600 participants gathered at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans for three busy days filled with workshops, networking, and solution-focused sessions to address SDoH and advance health equity. Here are some highlights from today.
Conference Co-Chairs Ellen Fink-Samnick, DBH, MSW, LCSW, ACSW, CCM, CCTP, CRP, principal, EFS Supervision Strategies, and Rick Whitted, CEO, US Hunger, opened the conference with welcome remarks and a shared focus on the cross-sector connectivity taking place throughout the summit.
Hands raised across the room as Fink-Samnick called out for community-based organizations, providers, practitioners, product developers and consultants, professional associations, federal, state, and local government, case managers, community health works, and more.
“I remember having this conversation about SDoH, and the conversation was not quite as vibrant, not quite as received in all corners of the health care world like it is now,” said Whitted. “But there’s a lot to do and a long way to go, and I can tell you, if we’re going to solve health equity, it will be through the connectivity of players in this room.”
The sessions today reflected just how dire this collective, cross-sector collaboration is.
Here are four quotes we’re still thinking about from today:
“You never know what your next step is going to do for someone.”
-Kyle Pease, Ironman Champion Triathlete
Our first session of the day was an inspirational keynote address from the Pease brothers. Ironman Champion Triathletes Brent and Kyle Pease shared with us their amazing journey from their first race, through the multiple 'no’s' to the final 'yes' from Kona, getting to the start line, the ups and downs to the finish line, and beyond.
Having heard from so many people over the years, from strangers and loved ones, how invested others were in Brent and Kyle’s goals, the brothers stressed just how important it is to keep going, not only for yourself but others around you that you may not even know you’re impacting.
“You guys work in an industry that has an impact on people that you don’t see,” said Brent Pease. “You don’t get to see those stories about what the work you do does for somebody else, somebody like Kyle.”
“We get to choose every day to share our gifts with the individuals around us,” said Kyle. guys it may not be an ironman for you, but you guys are on the frontlines of what you do. You’re the best of the best at your craft, you’re making a difference whether you believe it or not.”
“Racism is the SDoH that we are afraid to address but is literally the footing of every system in this country.”
-Saeeda Lesley Dunston, chief executive officer, Elmcor Youth & Adult Activities Inc.
During a conversation on the intersection between heath equity and SDoH and the road ahead, a panel of industry leaders shared their perspectives on addressing SDoH as a part of health equity, intersection points, and what the road ahead looks like.
While discussing the leading challenges to health equity and addressing SDoH, the panel of industry leaders shared a clear barrier: a struggle to measure success.
“Success is going to look different everywhere you go,” said Vivian Nava-Schellinger, J.D., director of diversity, equity, inclusion & community impact, The SCAN Foundation. “Success is dependent on the community and the population. People are looking for huge measurements, but the real investment and real metrics you get back from a community are small, and they take time if you’re willing to invest that way results will come but in a different way than you thought.”
“Your ZIP code is a better indicator of your health than your genetic code.”
–Michael-Sean Spence, managing director, community safety initiatives, Everytown for Gun Safety
Michael-Sean Spence, managing director, community safety initiatives, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Christa Green program director, turning the tide violence intervention program, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), spoke about healing communities by tackling gun violence disparities in Black neighborhoods with a public health approach.
There is a ripple effect of the gun violence crisis in our country creating social and economic disparities that reverberate across Black families and neighborhoods, explained Spence.
They explored community violence intervention (CVI) programs as evidence-based and data-driven public health approaches that can help solve the crisis and other actionable solutions that can make communities safer.
Spence shared four clear components needed in a public health approach:
- Identify and monitor your gun violence issue in your community (ie. ZIP codes, age groups, demographics, their concentration)
- Identify and test risk factors (lack of access to resources and opportunities) and protective factors (workforce development, apprenticeships)
- Identify strategies such as hospital-based programs and street outreach and test them
- Scale those strategies to all the people and places that need them
“Systems don’t fail people. People fail people.”
-Dr. Alfonso Brown, Let’s Get to Work
Our final general session was with Dr. Alfonso Brown, Let’s Get to Work, on health, housing, and sharing lived experiences that turned into meaningful research.
Brown sat down with JoEllen McNamara, VP of housing + health partnerships, National Equity Fund, for a candid conversation about his personal experience of being out of work in 2009, years of homelessness, and his continued struggles to find employment despite his extensive education.
“Apparently I’ve committed professional suicide,” said Brown. “I didn’t know having a doctorate degree would become a social determinant of health; I’m an overeducated Black man who probably represents a marginalized group of individuals in this current society.”
McNamara and Brown spoke about the need to get people on the same level to find the strategies that can actually address the issue.
“The housing crisis is getting more significant and we’re at the point where every industry needs to get involved,” said McNamara, who also shared her personal experiences with homelessness as a child.
A special thank you to our volunteers
Before the conference began, 30 attendees joined us Monday evening for a food packing event in partnership with U.S. Hunger. Volunteers packed 10,368 meals that were sent to Second Harvest Food Bank. Special thanks to all the attendees who took time out of their day packing the meals as part of a commitment to make a difference in the local community.
A group of attendees also came together bright and early this morning, getting a jumpstart before conference sessions started, to volunteer in partnership with Grace at the Green Light to serve breakfast to the community. Thank you to all who volunteered!