20 Years of Progress – Two Tobacco Ways in Indian Country
In order to respectfully and effectively address the harmful epidemic of cigarette smoking among American Indian adults, ClearWay Minnesota listened carefully to Native communities and adopted a model that focused on the dangers of commercial tobacco use while honoring the traditional healing traditions of tobacco. This model is referred to as the “two tobacco ways” framework and serves as an instructive illustration of how context is important in addressing health disparities and heath equity across communities.
The Air That We Breathe
We and many colleagues believe that, in order to strengthen responses to the pressing crises we face, we must consider some converging determinants of health—racism, climate change, and COVID-19—together. Doing so is essential, not just for crisis management, but also for building resilient systems and infrastructure that enable everyone, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, to breathe.
Managing America’s Crises Means Addressing the Political Determinants of Health
Too often we stop at these social drivers of inequities, however, and miss the link between social determinants of health and their political roots. Every social determinant of health is preceded by a political action, inaction, or impetus. Political determinants of health create the social drivers—including poor environmental conditions, inadequate transportation, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of healthy food options—that affect all other dynamics of health.
Health Equity … It’s a Journey, Not a Destination
COVID-19 has struck with a vengeance, hitting African Americans, older adults, and those with chronic health conditions the hardest. Simultaneously, our nation is experiencing a moment of reckoning, resulting from a long history of racism that has shaped the foundation of this country and thus permeates every system and institution.
Muslim Chaplaincy: Cultural and Faith Based Leadership for Better Health
For years, hospitals have offered interfaith chaplains to provide faith support for Muslim families. But over 95 percent of these chaplains come from Christian backgrounds. In Minnesota, which has a Muslim population of about 150,000, it has become clear that it could be enormously beneficial to integrate appropriate faith leaders into systems of care in order to overcome significant cultural gaps between community and health care providers and provide meaningful support to families facing critical life questions.
Health Equity and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): COVID-19 Spotlights the Need for Cross-Sector Collaborations
Three years ago, the EITC Funders Network started more deeply exploring the growing body of research on the intersections between the Earned Income Tax Credit and health outcomes. This research became a foundation for fostering cross-sector discussions and collaborations to promote both economic opportunity and health equity.
Rethink, Reorient, Reimagine Health and Housing
The pandemic has blatantly exposed the longstanding inequities in America due to institutional and systemic racism that people of color have experienced for far too long. It has brought to
light the need to urgently rethink and reorient our role in reimagi
ng the affordable housing
sector — one that brings health in reach for all.
Rural Food Insecurity: COVID-19 and Beyond
According to Feeding America, one in ten people and one in six children face hunger in our state (Feeding America 2020). As a foundation focused on the social and economic barriers to health, food insecurity has always been important to us
Educating Health Care Teams by the Zip Code
In 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and John A. Hartford Foundation envisioned a national program to support advanced practice nurse faculty members to create sustained and vibrant academic-community partnerships with the goal of improving population health in their own communities and zip codes.
Investing in Rural Communities to Achieve Health Equity
Some years ago, in reference to Georgia’s economy, the claim was made of the existence of two Georgias: one, the vibrant metropolitan areas of the state; the other, rural Georgia – described as its poor economic cousin. Today, this Two Georgias distinction applies to the growing disparities in health and health care between the metropolitan areas and rural communities, home to nearly 2 million Georgians.