Health Disparities Course Hampshire College Fall 2009

By Richard A. Aronson, MD, MPH: For a long time now, I have been wanting to focus my full energy on teaching, mentoring, and being in dialogue with college level students to inspire them to pursue public health as a noble profession…a profession that: 1. Forms its foundation in the quest for social justice. 2. Honors the dignity of all people and communities throughout the world, and their languages and cultures and religions. 3. Unites multiple stakeholders for collaborative action. 4. Combines mind, body, and spirit in its vision of health. 5. Integrates and applies the internal and external dimensions of healing. 6. Focuses on common ground and celebrates diversity. 7. Represents an exquisitely inter-disciplinary field of study that combines the natural and social sciences, and humanities. 8. Fosters a legacy of hope. To that end, I am honored to have the opportunity to teach a course this fall at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. The title of the course is “Health Disparities”, and it will be a seminar-type course for roughly 25 students, meeting twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays 2 – 3:20 pm Eastern Time USA). Students from the other colleges in the Five-College Area (Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke, and the University of Massachusetts) will be able to enroll. The course will be part of a Five-College Inter-Disciplinary Program called Culture, Health, and Science. I have put the course description below. I welcome suggestions for any reference materials (articles, books, videos, stories, poems, web sites, works of art, community organizations, etc.) that I could include in the syllabus or in the classes themselves or case examples of best practices. Thank you. I'm at raronson@myfairpoint.net. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!

Health Disparities Course Description
Fall 2009
Hampshire College Course 209 School of Natural Science
Room 333, Cole Science Center, 2-3:20 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays
Professor: Richard A. Aronson, MD, MPH

Social injustice and inequality create conditions that lead to unconscionable health disparities according to race, ethnicity, gender, childhood experiences, and many other factors. An example is the infant mortality gap in the United States, where black babies die at more than twice the rate of whites. This course explores the origins of selected health disparities and highlights promising community-based efforts to address them. How do we define health disparities in a public health context? How do such disparities occur and persist across generations? What is the "life course perspective" for maternal and child health? Specifically, how does chronic stress experienced by women of color in the U.S. make them more likely to give birth to premature and low weight babies? And how are traumatic childhood experiences associated with earlier and more severe chronic diseases in adulthood? We will explore research related to these questions, and then consider specific promising community-based practices. We will critically examine how such practices: 1) Draw on the resilience of individuals, families, and communities; 2) Tap into the potential for social capital to enrich physical, mental, and spiritual health; 3) Foster collaborative action among multiple stakeholders, including the communities directly affected, to trust each other and unite as equal partners; and 4) Emphasize learning how culture and language influence health, and how the need to respect culture and to communicate clearly is essential to effective and humane programs, policies, and systems. Throughout the course, we will seek, in various ways, to include the voices of people and communities who have experienced disparities into our dialogue.

Amherst Public Health Collaborative May 2009

By Richard Aronson

As the academic year winds down, it's time to celebrate the creation of the Amherst College Public Health Collaborative and to honor the graduating seniors who have played a leadership role in its founding and initial events: Jodie Simms, Annah Kuriakose, Romain Cames, Surya Kundu, and Katerina Byanova. Also, many thanks to the Amherst Career Center, the Center for Community Engagement, the Five-College Culture, Health, and Science Program, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Public Health Club, Tapestry Health, Holyoke Health Center, Teen Clinic at Wm. J. Dean Technical High School, Big Brothers Big Sisters Hampshire County, Providence Prenatal and Women's Health Center in Holyoke, and many others. We are delighted that Jamie Cohen '11, Keemi Ereme '11, Lili Ferguson '10, Ethan Balgley '12, and Sarah Schear '12 have already taken on a leadership role for the transition to next year.

Here is the Mission Statement of the Collaborative:
The Amherst College Public Health Collaborative (ACPHC) brings together college students, faculty, staff, alumni, community partners and health care providers in order to engage in and promote issues of public health and social justice in the Pioneer Valley. ACPHC seeks to create long-term partnerships between community organizations and students, create a resource network for students interested in the field and highlight the importance of public health in the wider community. By including all relevant stakeholders, ACPHC aims to positively affect the health of the people living in the Pioneer valley, as well as to deepen the relationships between college students and local community by meaningfully engaging students in community health projects and by providing a means for students to apply classroom knowledge to the world they live in.

Culture and Language Workshops for Maine WIC

Richard Aronson and Lisa Sockabasin, Minority Health Director for Maine, will present two all-day workshops in June and September for staff of the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC). This is part of a three-year federal grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to strengthen the capacity of WIC to deliver humane services and policies that demonstrate cultural and linguistic competence and show respect and honor for the dignity of all WIC children and families. We view this as an exciting new step to infusing research on racial and ethnic MCH disparities (James Collins, Michael Lu, others) into our workshops on cultural and linguistic competence. It will also incorporate the work that Aronson and Alyssa Pagano have done this year on the discourse of public health. Here is an overview of the workshops:

Understanding the Impact of Culture, Language, and Discrimination on WIC in Maine and Equipping WIC Providers with Tools to Improve Services to Families

June 12 (Augusta) and 30 (Bangor), September 21 (Augusta) and 30 (Bangor), 2009

Purpose: To strengthen the capacity of Maine WIC Agencies to provide leadership that honors and respects culture and language in: 1) Direct services to families; 2) The organization as a whole; and 3) The improvement of health outcomes and reduction of health inequalities in the WIC population.
Learning Objectives and Agenda:
Day One
1. Increase participant understanding of personal and organizational bias and prejudice, and how it may affect the relationship between the WIC agency and the community, and between WIC providers and the families who receive WIC services.
2. Increase understanding of how to address such bias and prejudice in order to better understand and respect each other and the families who receive WIC services.
3. Define culture and language.
4. Increase understanding of how culture and language affect the provider-family relationship and the extent to which a WIC agency is able to improve the health of the WIC population it serves.
5. Increase knowledge of how severe traumatic events and chronic stress affect birth outcomes and contribute to maternal and child health disparities.
Day Two
1. Increase knowledge of how laws and public policy, including the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services, can help WIC agencies strengthen their culture and language related services to families.
2. Identify essential elements to increase cultural and language respect in the WIC provider-family relationship, and develop a preliminary plan to put those elements into action.
3. Learn why organizational self-assessment is important, identify essential components of such an assessment, and develop a preliminary plan to carry out such an assessment.
4. Explore how to integrate all of the above into the skill sets and leadership of Maine WIC Agencies and the goal of improving the health of the WIC population, including all aspects of its policies, procedures, administration and VENA implementation plans.
Facilitators and Presenters: Richard Aronson and Lisa Sockabasin
Method: The sessions will consist of a combination of presentations, and small and large group activities and dialogue, using Future Search principles.

A Better Chance and Mentoring Workshops at Amherst

Please note the two upcoming workshops at the Amherst College Reunion on May 29 and 30, 2009:

Amherst College Alumni Reunion 2009 Saturday, May 30, 2009, 2:30 - 3:20 p-m

The Class of 1969 Project: A New Role for Alumni to Promote "Lives of Consequence"

This project, started in 2006 by Justin Grimes '69, organizes opportunities for Amherst alumni to inspire and equip students and young alumni with tools to make a difference in the world. "Through their hard work, Class of 1969 alumni, in partnership with students, faculty, CCE, Career Center, other graduates, and community partners have brought a number of fantastic programs to campus - including a program of inter-faith, inter-generational dialogue and an inspired colloquium that resulted in the formation of a student-led public health collaborative," wrote an '08 graduate. Working with established departments at the College, the project is opening doors for alumni to "give" to the College through involvement with students. An innovative program in Group Dialogue and Individual Mentoring for students interested in public health and service have also contributed to this redefinition of the alumni role in student life. Facilitated by Richard Aronson '69, we will hear the story of the project though the voices of undergraduates and young alumni. Presented by the Class of 1969.
Pruyne Lecture Hall (Room 115), Fayerweather Panelists: Jodie Simms, Joshua Stanton, Molly Mead, Christopher Dole

Friday, May 29, 2009 2 pm
Celebration of the Amherst ABC Program on its 40th Anniversary, and on the role of the Class of 1969, other alumni, and the College as a Whole in this Extraordinary Program
Facilitator: Richard A. Aronson ’69
Participants: A panel of Amherst College Class of 1969 alumni, Amherst College alumni who were students in the Amherst ABC (A Better Chance) Program (http://www.amherstabetterchance.org/), and Amherst ABC Board Members and others involved in the program throughout its history. Includes Michael Hawkins (Amherst ABC Board President), Frank Anderson (Invited - Initial Amherst ABC Board President),Jay Silverman ’69, Fred Hoxie ‘69, Henry Francis '71 (Invited)

The Amherst ABC Program was founded 40 years ago. In its senior year, the Class of 1969 decided to contribute to the founding of Amherst ABC by choosing to divert its yearbook-dedicated funds to ABC. The Class of 1969 is the only class in modern Amherst history without a year book. This workshop will explore: 1) The events leading to the Class of 1969’s decision, the summer of 1969 ABC orientation on the Amherst Campus, and reflections 40 years later. 2) The need for programs such as Amherst ABC 40 years ago, compared with today. 3) Opportunities for Amherst College and its alumni and students to make transformative changes in the community (in this case focusing on racial inequity and educational opportunity for low income youth of color) in Amherst and beyond. 4) The fundamental importance of philanthropy and non-profits in American society, and grassroots organizing, in the context of Amherst ABC as an example. The dialogue will be followed by a reception at the ABC House.