Public Health Culture: Recent Episodes

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This is it! The last episode of the Public Health Culture Podcast! In this episode, you will hear about my journey as a Podcaster and what led me to this decision. I also share other Public Health Podcasts that I enjoy.

I started a nonprofit called, the Association of Black Researchers (ABR). The mission of the Association of Black Researchers is to cultivate, highlight, advance, and advocate for a multidisciplinary community of Black researchers through the following objectives:

• Increase knowledge in all areas of research.
• Amplify the voice of the Black Researcher.
• Improve research collaboration and networking.
• Increase professional development opportunities.
• Support Black researchers in leadership positions.
• Create a multidisciplinary community for Black Researchers.

The Association of Black Researchers is committed to mentoring and equipping multidisciplinary researchers with professional development, scholarly experiences, and collaborative opportunities to advance in the field by providing the following services:

• Monthly professional development opportunities
• Quarterly networking sessions
• Quarterly journal and book clubs
• Annual Research Conference
• Monthly Newsletters and email blasts with internal and external opportunities
• Membership and Community Organization Directory

You don't have to navigate the research journey alone. Join a community to help you through it! Membership will open in Fall 2021! Join the email list (www.blackresearchers.org) to stay updated with everything ABR.

Connect with the Association of Black Researchers:

• Website: www.blackresearchers.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackresearchers
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/blkresearcher

Other Public Health Podcasts:

Working Mama Collective: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/working-mama-collective/id1548230816

The Flow: https://www.bloodstreammedia.com/flow

Not a Health Guru: https://www.listennotes.com/da/podcasts/not-a-health-guru-not-a-health-guru-Fh4PNkof830/

The Public Health Millennial: https://thephmillennial.com/podcast/

Public Health Epidemiology Careers: https://www.drchhuntley.com/podcast

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Dr. Zenobia Bryant has a PhD in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from Walden University. She also has a BS degree in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology from Emory University. Dr. Bryant is passionate about mental health, adolescent health, the health of young black women, financial health, and the barriers and structural racism that hinder fulfillment in these areas.

She is the founder and CEO of Black Health Black Wealth, LLC that envisions optimal wellness and true health equity for young black and brown women. Her organization disseminates mental health, public health, and financial health stories and information to black and brown women with the hope of giving voice to the issues they face, improving wellbeing, and empowering them. She believes that black mental health, black physical health, and black financial health is wealth!

Black Health Black Wealth also offers customized and expert consulting to nonprofit and for-profit organizations related to the following topics: 1) identifying gaps in the quality of care for minorities, 2) Black mental health care, 3) Black maternal health, 4) racial inequality, 5) diversity, equity, and inclusion, and 6) Black health equity. She specializes in helping organizations with literature reviews, survey development, data analysis, baseline analysis, reviewing and analyzing current programs and policies, developing strategies to improve current programs and policies, and presenting findings and opinions.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her public health journey
• Why she started Black Health Black Wealth, LLC and how she came up with the name
• The services that Black Health Black Wealth offers and her goal of empowering organizations to achieve excellence by delivering programs, products, and services that eliminate health disparities and remove health inequities
• Her priority population of young black and brown women who are interested in connecting with their personal identity and straying from societal or religious labels
• Importance of self-care and self-advocacy
• Breaking generational cycles and curses
• Her “Rise-up” affirmations initiative that explores a new affirmation each month to help women truly overcome struggles and negativity
• Her upcoming book club, “Knowledge is Power” (happening on June 26th 11am-1pm EST), that will empower participants through discussion by identifying self-care, self-expression, and self-advocacy strategies. Registration includes:
  • The book club pick mailed to your place of residence (continental US only)
  • One 2-hour online Zoom session that consists of instruction, interactive discussion, workbook activities, feedback and Q+A
  • A self-guided workbook to use in the Zoom session
  • The option to attend a 30-minute bonus one-on-one session with Dr. Zenobia Bryant to share work and discuss any discoveries or progress following the book club discussion

Register for the Book Club:

https://blackhealthblackwealth.org/knowledge-is-power-book-club/p/transcendent-kingdom

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

You are never finished learning. Always be willing to educate yourself, seek information, and explore new topics. Always keep your target community at the focus. Listen to their needs and wishes.

Connect:

• www.blackhealthblackwealth.org
• Book Club: https://blackhealthblackwealth.org/knowledge-is-power-book-club
• Blog: https://blackhealthblackwealth.org/blog
• Rise Up Affirmations: https://blackhealthblackwealth.org/rise-up-affirmations
• Instagram: @blackhealthblackwealth

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Leonore Okwara, MPH is CEO and Founder of Public Health Research Consulting, and host of the Public Health Culture Podcast. She helps researchers meet the unique needs of the community and the funders in two ways: 1) hosting community engagement in research webinars and trainings to equip researchers with strategies on building community trust in research, and 2) providing program management trainings to help researchers manage their grant-funded research studies with ease.

Joyee Washington, MS, MPH, CHES is CEO and Founder of Joyee Washington Consulting, LLC. She is a public health and education research consultant who works with communities, organizations, and institutions to help them conduct more effective research and build more impactful programs for sustainable solutions.

We are collaborating to bring an opportunity to public health students, professionals, and researchers. We are calling this a Research Roundtable, "Building community trust in research: Strategies, challenges, and lessons learned from the field."

In This Episode We Cover:

• Our own experiences and challenges working as community-engaged researchers
• How we build healthier communities, aim for prevention, strive for equity
• The importance of putting public health research into action
• Getting over your own ego as a researcher
• How it looks to overcome challenges as a community-engaged researcher
• How to equip the next researcher with tools to make their research impact a sustainable solution
• The importance of sustaining the positive impact of your research and how crucial sustainability is for the community
• The solution to building community trust in research and equipping the research community with the knowledge from other experienced researchers so that they can create more sustainable solutions in public health
• How to register for the Research Roundtable happening on May 27th at 7pm EST
• The benefits of registering for the Research Roundtable: Receive a “toolbox” of research best practices so you don’t have to figure it out yourself, interactive discussion, convenience of virtual space, resource guide and worksheet, access to the recording, giveaways, and much more.

Register for the Research Roundtable here.

We are running a special of $37 until May 26th in honor of Lupus Awareness Month! If you don’t know, Joyee Washington has Lupus and shared her story on Instagram. Follow her to read her story!

We’re on Clubhouse! Join our club PH Research in Action. We have two wonderful discussions planned for the month of May.

• Thursday, May 13th at 7pm EST, “The Community is not your fixer-upper”
• Thursday, May 20th at 7pm EST, “You got data. Now what?”

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Researchers, take a different perspective of your ego. You are not the community expert.

Connect:

Leonore Okwara, MPH

CEO and Founder of Public Health Research Consulting

Website: www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com

Email: leonore@publichealthresearchconsulting.com

Facebook: @publichealthRC

Twitter: @publichealthRC

Instagram: @publichealthculture @publichealthresearch

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leonoreokwara

Joyee Washington, MS, MPH, CHES

CEO and Founder of Joyee Washington Consulting, LLC

Website: www.joyeewashington.com

Email: joyee@joyeewashington.com

Facebook: joyeewashingtonconsulting

Instagram: @joyeewashington

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joyee-washington

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Tomorrow Bowen is a senior in undergrad in socio-behavioral health with a minor in Sociology. She just applied to grad school for an MPH. She’s a researcher at heart and runs a nonprofit The S.O.U.L and hosts the podcast, Not A Health Guru. She’s most passionate about housing and homelessness but also has a focus on food policy and environmental justice.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her public health journey so far and how she started out as a nursing major/working as CNA (certified nursing assistant) and she realized this wasn't what she wanted to do and made the shift to public health.
• Her passion in three areas: housing and homelessness, food policy, and environmental justice.
• Her personal story as to why her passion is housing and homelessness and how housing is such a big part of personal health.
• What her inspiration was to start a podcast, how she chooses what topics she covers, and how she organizes them.
• How she started her nonprofit, exploring the upstream reasons for homeless, and figuring out step-by-step how to work towards the mission.
• The ways in which she builds trust with the population she’s working with.
• Her current work looking at how COVID has affected nonprofits.
• All about her work with an EPA Superfund Site in Birmingham AL which is work very near-and-dear to her heart.
• How she works towards health equity.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Tomorrow recommends thinking about what hits close to home for you, educating yourself on that issue and spreading information about that issue. Talking to other people in the field and networking are huge parts of addressing health equity. What you don’t know someone else does and vice versa. Get your hands dirty and get into the topic. Don’t wait until you have your degree or your podcast. If you are a person and you have a passion for something, there’s always a way to address it.

Connect:

Personal

• LinkedIn: @tomorrow-r-bowen
• Instagram: @hai_morrow

Not A Health Guru

• Website:https://notahealthguru.wixsite.com/website
• Instagram: @notahealthguru_
• Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC9R580AeO4FBozYof2dR5MQ
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notahealthguru
• The podcast streams on Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Google Podcast, and via the website.

The S.O.U.L (her nonprofit)

• Website: https://thesoultribe.wixsite.com/thesoultribe
• Instagram: @thesoul.tribe
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpJ4wCCFz_gH6RJC1TIYPEg

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Angela N. Frazier, MPH is the Founder of Sisters in Public Health® , speaker, mental health advocate, and author of A Kids Book About™ Suicide.” A Portland native, Angela earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and Communication from Portland State University. She earned her MPH in Community Health from UT Health School of Public Health, and currently lives in Houston TX. She started a nonprofit called Sisters in Public Health to connect and empower all women in Public Health and to support the next generation of public health professionals.

After losing her mom to suicide in 2016, she opened the Tami Best Emergency Shelter for survivors of domestic violence in honor of her mother. She currently serves on two boards: Ashley Jadine Foundation working to prevent suicide among teens and Bradley Angle working to create communities free of domestic violence.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How her life experiences and her passion for mental health has fueled her life and career.
• The most important thing needed to build trust.
• Her experience with grant writing.
• All about Sisters in Public Health: how it started, how it is growing, and their current scholarship and leadership opportunities
• How to best engage a group virtually
• How her work moves the needle towards health equity and inclusivity.
• Her role with Bradley Angle and her creation of the Tami Best Emergency Shelter, a domestic violence shelter in Portland OR.
• Her book, “A Kids Book About Suicide” - written for kids who have suicidal ideation and also for kids who have lost someone to suicide. Oprah listed the “A Kids Book About” Series on her favorites 2020 list. Angela’s book is currently available for pre-order and will be released in Spring.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Start before you are ready! No great thought should sit in your Google drive!

Connect & Donate:

• Web: https://sistersinpublichealth.org/ https://angelanicolefrazier.com/ https://bradleyangle.org/
• Instagram: @angelanicole_f & @sistersinpublichealth
• Facebook Group: Sisters in Public Health
• Apply for the Sisters in Public Health Scholarship: https://sistersinpublichealth.org/scholarship
• Pre-Order her “A Kids Book About Suicide”

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Kristie Hicks, MPH, CHES, CPT is a public health professional with experience in chronic disease management, health and nutrition education, and fitness. She’s the founder of Brown Girls Get Fit, a health and wellness organization for women of color and Better Balanced Health which offers online fitness training and wellness coaching services. She is the author of a peer-reviewed North Carolina Medical Journal article featuring her childhood obesity research. She is a National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coach, Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer. She is passionate about educating individuals about personal fitness, chronic disease prevention, wellness, and healthy behavior change.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her research on childhood obesity and how she showed correlations between health education in adolescent curriculum and health changes.
• The ways in which she engages people in healthier lifestyles.
• Her passion about chronic disease prevention and how knowledge does not always equal behavior change.
• Her belief that showing people workouts is key to helping to engage in fitness.
• How Brown Girls Get Fit started as a hobby that she shared on social media and how it organically grew into what it is today.
• Her inspiration for Better Balanced Health. Hint: it has to do with the pandemic and her work with the Diabetes Prevention Program.
• Her inspiration for her five pillars of health for Better Balanced Health.
• The questions she asks her clients and how she creates individualized action plans using a whole person approach.
• The ways she is working towards achieving health equity.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Kristie highly recommends that everyone be open to volunteering in their field of interest. It is extremely important to be open to volunteering and giving of your time. There are benefits including connecting with community organizations, nonprofits, etc.

Connect:

• Web: https://www.browngirlsgetfit.org/ & https://www.betterbalancedhealth.com/
• Instagram: @browngirlsgetfit, @betterbalancedhealth
• Facebook: @browngirlsgetfit

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Quisha Umemba, MPH, BSN, RN, CDCES, CHWI is a Registered Nurse with a background in Public health. She is Founder and CEO of Umemba Health LLC, a public health consulting and education agency that provides workforce development and community health worker training. She is also the Executive Director and CEO of a nonprofit called Diversity in Diabetes. A Superwoman, she is a Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, Certified Community Health Worker, a Certified Lifestyle Coach, a wife and a mother. She lives in Austin, TX.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her passion for chronic disease and how it affects the quality of life and how it affects certain populations, especially communities of color.
• How her background in nursing and public health give her a unique skill set and a unique view of problem solving.
• How she found a niche serving those who serve others.
• What exactly a Community Health Worker is and why they are crucial to Public Health work in communities.
• How you can become a Community Health Worker.
• All about Umemba Health LLC and their work on providing certification, training and education to Community Health Workers.
• About Umemba Health’s CHW Instructor Certification.
• Umemba Health’s work to help organizations and health care systems utilize the skillsets of Community Health Workers.
• The Community Health Worker Virtual Summit to be held April 6-9th on the theme of “Elevating the Multidimensional Skillset.” It is for Community Health Workers, instructors, employers, networks, associations, CHES, Health Educators, and anyone in the Public Health field. See more info below.
• How the Virtual Summit will also show a different perspective on what innovation in terms of virtual engagement can look like.
• The CHW Mentor Network and the 6-week CHW Mentorship and Professional Development Program.
• All about her nonprofit Diversity in Diabetes and the People of Color Living with Diabetes Summit. They are now looking for volunteers and board members!

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Quisha says that if it doesn’t scare the crap out of you, you are not doing what you should be doing! It takes so much guts to put on a summit, webinar, event or anything and just hoping people show up, buy tickets, and find it valuable. Do it scared.

Offer what you have to offer to people, get feedback and then continue updating and changing your offerings.

Become a master in one thing. Find something you love doing so much you’d do it for free and then find a way to charge for it.

About the CHW Summit:

About: Presented by Umemba Health LLC, the goal of the 2021 Virtual CHW Summit is to provide continuing education, professional development, and networking opportunities for Community Health Workers and Community Health Worker Instructors. The Virtual CHW Summit will help the CHW to sharpen skills, increase knowledge, improve competency, and deepen expertise. Held during National Community Health Worker week, April 6-9, the theme for Summit is "Elevating the Multidimensional Skillset of Community Health Workers."

When: April 6-9, 2021

Where: Virtual

Cost: Tickets are $15 before April 1st

More Info/Register Here: https://umembahealthacademy.thinkific.com/pages/chw-summit

Connect:

• Web: https://www.umembahealth.com, https://www.diversityindiabetes.org
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quishaumemba/
• Email: quisha@umembahealth.com

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Kayla Holston, MPH is a second-year medical school student at Thomas Jefferson University who also works in collaboration with a Labor and Delivery Hospital in Malawi to improve the safety and patient experience of mothers and their families. She also founded and runs a business called Melanin Med, a merch store for melanated health professionals & allies. With a Bachelor degree in biomedical engineering and in cognitive science, she melds these fields with medicine and public health to work towards health equity.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her experience working in collaboration with a Labor and Delivery Hospital in Malawi.

• How they engage with the physicians and patients there.

• All about her merch business Melanin Med at her passion for increasing representation of Black women and men in the health professions.

• Racism as a public health issue and how wearing a “Black Patients Matter” pin can be so powerful in the healthcare setting.

• Her goal to provide mentorship and scholarship opportunities for future Black health professionals.

• Her work promoting efficiency and improved care at a refugee women’s clinic.

• The importance of existing relationships for community collaboration.

• Her experiences as a black medical student and how this has shaped her experience and her desire to help remove barriers for other Black health professionals.

• How one of her passions is helping other Black students to move through the educational process without it being a financial burden.

• The avenues she used to get the word out about Melanin Med and engage her community.

• The two biggest ways she helps move the needle towards health equity.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Her advice for someone going to medical school (or school for any health profession) is to find what you love and don’t do anything else except for that. There are so many opportunities, but if they aren’t taking you towards your goal and what you are most passionate about, they are taking away time from moving towards your passion.

Connect:

• Web: https://www.melaninmed.com

• Instagram: @melanin_med_

• Email: melaninmedmerch@gmail.com

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Nkechi Michel, MPH, CHES is a Public Health Advocate and Educator for the Obesity Prevention Program, SNAP-Ed in Sacramento, CA. Working in community health, she loves helping people and being on the ground. Her biggest passions include nutrition and environmental racism. She is the Founder of @thatpublichealthchick, her Instagram platform where she loves to share public health messages and engage with people virtually. Queenivism is her website where she has a public health merchandise line of clothing and accessories that she designed to get people sharing, thinking about and promoting public health, health equity, and activism.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her decision to initially go into nursing and how she quickly decided to pivot into public health.

• Her experience starting out as a peer-health educator.

• Her current position at the CA Department of Health SNAP-Ed program and her focus on obesity prevention, increasing food access, and improving the food environment overall.

• How the pandemic has shifted her work to more virtual platforms.

• The different community partners she works with and the community’s receptiveness to her public health education.

• All about her Instagram platform @thatpublichealthchick, how and what she decides to post, and her engagement with the public health community.

• What she is doing to promote and work towards health equity.

• All about her merchandise line and how it is helping spread the message and increase awareness around public health, activism, and health equity.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Start by taking a class. Take public health 101 and see where it takes you. Reach out to people who are already doing the work. It’s a matter of doing research, exploring, reaching out to folks already doing it, asking questions, and volunteering. See what it is that can be done in public health. Feel it out and see what impact it can really make.

Connect:

• Instagram: @thatpublichealthchick

• Website: queenivism.com

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Theresa Alphonse, MPH is a Public Health Professional, Educator, and Writer. She has a public health focus on community health, health equity, working with the population who receives Medicaid, and immigrants. She is the Founder and Executive Director of What’s on Your Mind, A Nonprofit 501c3, whose mission is to normalize conversations around thoughts, emotions and feelings in communities of color. She started What’s On Your Mind five years ago because she wanted to get down to the real issues of the community. So she went out and started having conversations with people, and as it grew, so did the services, events, and offerings making big impacts in communities. What’s On Your Mind does street outreach, workshops, active listening sessions, and a podcast. A true renaissance woman, she’s also a poet, a performer and an Airbnb host.

In This Episode We Cover:

• What her nonprofit work focuses on: mental health, self-care, and mindfulness.

• The next new exciting chapter in What’s On Your Mind’s work.

• Her work as a Health Equity speaker and how it has evolved.

• How she created health equity committees and why they have been so successful.

• Her key strategies for engaging with the community.

• The importance of your own self-care.

• How therapy has been a great support in her life.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

If it’s your passion, go for it! Jump in and see what you like.

Connect:

• Website: www.woyminc.org

• Email: theresa.alphonse@yahoo.com

• Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter: @woyminc

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-alphonse-mph-94635a62/

• Podcast: https://www.woyminc.org/podcast

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LaTonya Bynum, CEO, MPH, CHES serves as Principal Consultant and Founder/CEO of URA Resource Center, LLC with a combined total of over twenty years of experience in Retail Sales, Public Health, and Health Information Technology. URA Resource Center, LLC, a public health consulting firm and federally registered government contractor, specializes in 3 key areas: creative/technical writing, public speaking/training, and research/data analysis. She is the author of “Tools for Career Success: 101 Answers to FAQs about Public Health” and “Mind Ya Busi-ness: Are You Okay?” She’s also a wife and a mother of three living in Conway, Arkansas.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her journey from secretary to entrepreneur and CEO of her public health consulting firm.
• When COVID hit, how she re-structured her life to make sure she had the time to do what was most important to her while maintaining some peace.
• How being a “translator” in Public Health gave her an edge.
• How she turned her passion for writing into a career.
• Why she loves working with new public health graduates the most.
• Her two books: Tools for Career Success: 101 Answers to FAQs about Public Health” and “Mind Ya Busi-ness Are you Okay?”
• Where she gets her content inspiration.
• Why helping others find economic stability is her public health passion.
• How she started and found success helping public health professionals study for and pass the CHES credentialing test.
• The three areas of responsibility that are most important to know to pass the exam.
• Her top 3 tips for succeeding in the field of Public Health.

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Make sure to market your credentials. Don’t be scared to put all your alphabet soup out there. Stay consistent at it and be willing to work that 365 days. Sometimes when our faith isn’t as strong as it could be, we sometimes get weak along the way and give up too early.

Connect:

• Website: https://latonyabynum.com/
• Email: info@latonyabynum.com
• LinkedIn: @latonyabynum
• Instagram: @sisspeakslife
• Facebook: @latonya.stewardbynum
• Twitter: @sisspeakslife
• Buy Latonya’s books: Tools for Career Success: 101 Answers to FAQs about Public Health” and “Mind Ya Busi-ness: Are You Okay?”

If you would like to share your public health or community engagement work on the podcast, complete the questionnaire here.

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Kendra Julien, MPH, MHFA, CCWS is a certified Corporate Wellness Specialist with a certification in Mental Health First Aid for adults. She has eight years of public health experience and has done work in maternal and child health with a focus on environmental health and vaccine-preventable diseases. She is passionate about employee and women’s health and wellbeing, including managing stress and practicing self-care. Kendra has experience in stakeholder engagement, planning and executing programs, and overseeing day-to-day logistics for multiple activities and events. She has coordinated and conducted meetings and training for health professionals such as registered nurses, physicians, pharmaceutical representatives, and social workers on various health topics. As an advocate for public health, Kendra believes that health education encourages people to make well-informed lifestyle choices and plays a significant role in increasing personal awareness.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her role as a adolescent immunization health educator that educates the community, parents, healthcare professionals about the HPV vaccine
• Her desire to share resources related to women's health through in-person and virtual events
• Her goal to help people prioritize themselves
• How she is making an impact in the area of health and wellbeing by increasing awareness through in-person and virtual education, sharing resources, and collaborating with other public health professionals.
• Her wellness event, "Manage Stress, Meditate, and Manifest" happening on Thursday, January 14th at 6pm EST
• How the work she is doing is moving towards achieving health equity

Advice for Public Health Professionals:

Take some time to do your research to find your passion because there are so many concentrations in Public Health. Do something that resonates with you because you will be able to provide the community with the proper resources, great communication, and genuine engagement.

Connect:

• Instagram: @healthandwellness_guru
• Email: julienkendra@gmail.com
• Register for the wellness event here

If you would like to share your public health or community engagement work on the podcast, complete the questionnaire here: https://www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com/podcast-guest-application/

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Kafilat Jimba-Bidmus, PhD is a Public Health professional passionate about all public health issues, but particularly focused on mental health, substance abuse, and health disparities. Her background is in community health education and health promotion. She has worked on mental health, early childhood development, substance abuse and health disparities. She has taken her work virtually and now uses instagram, youtube, and her website to share public health education. She is a mother and a wife, has three children, and loves sewing and cooking.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How her work at the Institute for Health Disparities influenced her career path and her passions.
• The most positive experiences she had working with minority communities.
• The most challenging experiences she had working with communities.
• The importance of building trust and engaging.
• The difficulty of balancing home and professional life.
• All about her instagram page and how it was created to raise awareness about mental health and substance abuse.
• How connecting people with resources is our job as public health professionals.
• How being a mom influences her work.
• Why she chose instagram as her platform, and how engaging there is a two-way street.
• Her advice for Public Health Professionals who want to go into the virtual space.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• In underserved communities, people sometimes don’t have the right tools or materials or education to care for themselves.
• The populations are forgotten. It’s frustrating to see that people don’t know what help is available.
• People talk to you and feel comfortable with you. Check on them and see how they are doing. Spread the word in the community.
• People don’t even know what is in front of them in terms of resources. This takes a collective effort from public health professionals. We will reach everyone.
• In immigrant communities, most people are afraid because there’s always been a catch.
• When you educate people, you empower them to take control and be in charge of their lives.
• Engage your community and community leaders and develop trust. Listen to them. Make sure you listen and they know you are there for them.
• The relationship should be a lasting one.

Reach Out:

• Website: https://publichealthtalks.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kafilat-jimba-bidmus-phd-mph-a9557a5/
• Instagram: @publichealthtalk
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCynhwl52la0V9WsbGPnD04w/videos

If you would like to be a guest on the Public Health Culture podcast, complete the podcast guest questionnaire here.

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In this episode, I discuss how you can become involved in the work I am doing in 2021!

Seeking Community-Based Research Opportunities During Undergraduate/Graduate School or Gap Year (January 14th at 7pm EST)

Register here

Frances Dean, BSHP, Founder of Create, Critique, and Revise Wizard, where she has served 100+ clients from the Public Health and STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Medicine) field since the company’s establishment in October 2018.

Leonore Okwara, MPH, Founder of Public Health Research Consulting helps current and future community-focused researchers engage communities of color in research and manage community-based participatory research studies to meet the needs of the community and the funder.

Objectives:
1. Understand the process of CBPR and how to avoid the "savior complex"
2. Learn how to prepare for a career in community-based research
3. Learn concrete ways to seek positions in this field

Research in Communities of Color Virtual Summit

View the recordings from the inaugural summit

Complete the form to participate in the 2021 summit as a volunteer, presenter, or sponsor.

Ask-A-Researcher Series

Interested in sharing best practices from engaging the community in your research? Join me in an informal discussion about your work and engage in a Q&A with attendees.

Sign up here.

Join the Public Health Research Network LinkedIn group for a collaborative space to share and learn best practices related to everything research.

Program Management Masterclass (January 28th at 7pm EST)

Register here

No time to dedicate to planning out the administrative steps to make conducting community-centered research activities easier? Are you interested in learning how to develop a program management plan to help you organize and track activities? This is for you if you are confused as to how to effectively manage the many moving parts of a research study.

Public Health Culture Podcast Guest

Interested in being a guest on the Public Health Culture Podcast? Complete the questionnaire and schedule the episode here.

Network with Other Public Health Professionals!

Questions about a career in research? Reach out to:

Leonore Okwara, MPH (Community-based research and program management)
www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com
leonore@publichealthresearchconsulting.com
Asya Spears, MS (Statistics)
www.rosedatastudio.com
asya@rosedatastudio.com
Andrea Durham, MPH, CCRP (Clinical research)
andrea.durham@durhamresearch.co Angela Brown, MPH (Aspiring Public Health Nurse)
Instagram: @phnurseang

Want to connect with the Research in Communities of Color Summit Presenters?

• Teneasha Washington, PhD
• Whitney Hewlett Noel, MPH
• Jacque-Corey Cormier, PhD
• Marline Edmond, MCIS, CHES
• Alisa Howard, CHW-I
• Joyee Washington, MS, MPH, CHES
• Andrea Durham, MPH, CCRP
• Lee Bowen, MPA, CIP, CHRC
• Okey Enyia, MPH
• Sherilyn Garner, PhD
• Tasena McDonald, MPH

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Brooke Wilson, MSW, NC, is a Holistic Nutritionist and Natural Chef. She believes that home cooking is one of the foundations of health and that food can be incredibly healing. She founded Summer Thyme Wellness where she teaches nutrition and cooking to children, teens, and adults. Very recently she worked with the national nonprofit, Wellness in the Schools, where she advocated for healthy school lunches and taught kids about food and nutrition. COVID has really changed how she is able to work, and she is pivoting in order to continue to teach while also being safe. She’s currently based in Reno, NV, with her 16-year old poodle and her fiancé.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How her love for working with people led her to social work, which then led to public health with a focus on nutrition and cooking.
• Her work in Camden, NJ with the nonprofit Wellness in the Schools working on preventing obesity in school-aged children.
• The surprising way many kids react to “healthy” food.
• The ways in which community organizations have really stepped in during COVID to make sure meals are accessible to kids and families.
• How COVID has changed the nature of her work.
• The variations in school cultures even in the same geographical area and how those affect change-based work.
• Her strategies to engage school leadership.
• Why exposing kids to new foods is crucial.
• How to get involved in this work if you are new to the field.
• Why cooking and food are a foundation of health.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• (To become a part of the school community) “It’s a matter of observing, meeting with people, and talking to the kids.”
• (To engage the school as a community) “It’s about making sure I was building relationships with the principal, the lunch staff, and everyone involved.”
• “What do you need? How can I help?”
• “ It wasn’t my change to be made. It was the school's change and they had to decide what they needed and how it was going to go.”
• “When kids are involved in the cooking, it opens their eyes and sets them on a healthier path because food is so important for our health and cooking is the base for that.”
• “Food should bring joy. It should bring friends together, families together.”
• Try something new, if it feels right keep going in that direction.”

Reach Out:

• Website: www.summerthymewellness.com / www.wellnessintheschools.org
• Email: brooke.wilson@gmail.com / brooke@summerthymewellness.com
• LinkedIn: @brookewilson27
• Instagram: @summerthymewellness.com
• Email: brooke@summerthymewellness.com

If you would like to be a guest on the Public Health Culture podcast, complete the podcast guest questionnaire here.

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Sharon Attipoe-Dorcoo, PhD, is a passionate trailblazer in public health policy and research. Having completed her PhD at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, her most current work, for her dissertation, examines the health equity and economic effects that mobile health clinics have on hard to reach populations. She is from Ghana and holds onto her Ghanian values, but she lives in the US and there are things in the US that have become a part of who she is. Personally, she is a fiery millennial woman, a Jesus follower, a wife and a mother of three. Professionally, she’s a scientist with a background in engineering and biological sciences who has now found her work in public health. Additionally, she is an author of a children’s book.

In This Episode We Cover:

• The roundabout way she got into public health.
• Why curiosity and soul searching led her to her professional passion.
• Her passion: equitable access to health.
• What mobile health clinics are and how they operate.
• How mobile health clinics bridge health gaps for so many people.
• How mobile health clinics are providing much needed care during COVID-19 and during/after natural disasters.
• Why access to healthcare is a human right and how mobile health clinics are helping to bridge disparities.
• Her PhD journey and how important the process was for her professional development.
• How she is showing the value of the impact of mobile health clinics of decreased adverse health outcomes and cost savings.
• Her advice to people looking to get into the public health sphere.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• Equitable access to health: I get goosebumps just saying this
• How can I tell their stories so that individuals such as decision makers and funders will have the information they need?
• If there is something wrong with us (health-wise), that affects our whole day.

Reach Out:

• LinkedIn: @sharonattipoe-dorcoo
• Facebook: @KoliBosco
• Instagram: @KoliBosco

Want to be a guest on Public Health Culture? Complete the questionnaire here: https://www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com/podcast-guest-application/

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Megan Hunter is the founder of Peak + Prairie Co. Health Promotion and is on a mission to translate evidence based health information into understanding and action. Peak + Prairie provides best practice, evidence based health information to inform health-based decisions, particularly decisions around workplace wellness. She is in the process of earning her Masters of Science in Health Promotion and Sociobehavioral Studies. Her thesis work is focused on how the workplace has changed due to COVID-19 and the effects that has had on employment health. She lives in Calgary, Canada and also has a grey and white pet rabbit!

In This Episode We Cover:

• How public health is a “hidden force” all around us and we often don’t see it.
• The often overlooked but crucial importance of mental health in the workplace.
• The importance of a healthy psychological workplace.
• How her own mental health challenges have helped shape her work.
• Why the culture of a workplace varies and what kind of culture is necessary for health.
• The first steps someone can take to create a healthy workplace for employees.
• Why self-care is a crucial part of a workplace of wellness.
• The effects the pandemic has had on people’s work.
• Tips on how she manages it all.
• How to get started in this field.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• “I am most passionate about creating places, spaces, cultures, communities where mental health is protected.”
• “Without good mental health it’s harder to take care of physical health.”
• “We have to do this (create cultures of wellness in the workplace) collectively or it's not going to work.
• “We are not willing to accept the needs of others because we haven’t accepted our own. It starts with understanding your own needs and what it takes to take care of yourself.”
• “If we are putting in that work we all deserve at least a living wage so no one is under the poverty line. We shouldn’t have to be working 3 jobs to make a living wage.”
• “We can all just be a little kinder to ourselves.”
• “Be passionate about connecting with people.”

Reach Out:

• Email: hello@peakandprairieco.com
• Website: peakandprairieco.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-k-hunter/
• Facebook: Peak + Prairie Co. Health Promotion
• Instagram: @peakandprairiehealthpromotion
• Podcast: https://anchor.fm/peakandprairieco

If you would like to be a guest on Public Health Culture, complete the questionnaire here: https://www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com/podcast-guest-application/

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Glahnnia Rates is an Antimicrobial Resistance Coordinator for the State of Nevada-Office of Public Health Investigations and Epidemiology (OPHIE). She has planned, organized, and spearheaded numerous health equity, equality, and social justice centered projects to bring about awareness and change within her community.

An advocate, educator, and avid speaker for underserved communities, she actively works with health leaders to help improve public health efforts, offer better healthcare treatment for minority populations, give more equitable opportunities in higher education, as well as implement more pathways towards diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How her educational journey and community work led her to the public health field.
• How she initially became a CHW, Community Health Worker, and how important they are to the public health field.
• Why minority health and health equity in infectious disease and chronic disease prevention, specifically HIV/AIDS is at the heart of her work.
• How her personal experiences with healthcare struck a chord with her and led her to wanting to make change.
• Her current work on the health education side of public health.
• Why reaching out to people in the community is vital.
• What is important for creating a public health event.
• Her strategies for managing all of her work and her public health interests.
• The importance of partnering with a community organization when you are getting started.
• How to get involved with community organizations and how to join their board.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• “People within my community are not very aware of how to prevent chronic diseases, where to seek treatment, or how to get in touch with a healthcare provider.”
• “They keep quiet until things get really really bad. And something could have been treatable gets out of control.”
• “Talking about it more is a good thing.” (HIV/AIDS)
• On achieving health equity: “It starts a little bit at a time.”
• “Tell people how to leverage their power as community members and that’s how you get change.”
• “Get people engaged and interested. Get them talking to other people within their jobs, schools, or wherever they go for the majority of their week.”
• On how to choose your focus: “You have to figure out what is a priority to you and start from there.”
• “There is strength in numbers so the more like minded people you find the easier it will be to get done what you need to get done.”

Reach Out:

• Facebook: Renee Rates
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glahnniarates/
• Instagram: @reneefyne

Would you like to be a guest on the podcast? Complete the questionnaire here: https://www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com/podcast-guest-application/

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Melicent Miller, DrPH (c), MSPH, BS, is a Health Improvement Supervisor at the Virginia Department of Health and has over a decade of experience working in the field of public health. She is passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of communities by engaging in multi-sectoral partnerships aimed at collectively impacting social determinants/influencers of health and reducing health inequities and health disparities. She has spent the majority of her career working in chronic disease prevention and management and helping people be well.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Her background and her career journey
• Why she choose to earn her DrPH versus a PhD
• How she navigates community relationships
• Why always being willing to learn more and dig deep is the key to success
• How health equity is interconnected with so many other disciplines
• The different public health programs she manages
• The positions and roles of the staff who work under her
• The tools and strategies she uses to stay organized and on top of everything
• The importance of Community Health Workers
• What steps someone can take to work in this field

Stand-Out Quotes:

• “It (public health work) fuels my passion to be creative and innovative and think of ways we can reach those who are most underserved, most vulnerable, hidden populations, and even those who have been exploited. It’s my life’s work and I enjoy it everyday.”
• “We (civil servants) know the importance of engaging the community. The community is filled with so many resources, not just financial but also lived experiences.”
• “It’s a matter of understanding who you are serving, why you are serving, and how you can serve those individuals even if it’s not through direct service.”
• “Keeping a pulse on what’s going on in our communities, not just the data but the anecdotal evidence that we have on how things are impacting them is critically important.”
• “Understanding the gaps or missing links in service is and the provision of care is also critically important.”
• “It’s always a willingness to learn more and dig deep into your partnerships.”
• “We are all here to serve our community and we do it better when we collaborate.”
• “Addressing individual and population health doesn’t reside just in the walls of a clinic.”

Action Steps:

• Use technology and creativity to serve your communities.
• For someone who is new to the field don’t get hung up on titles. Don’t be afraid to jump right in and ask the tough questions. Remember, new practitioners bring new perspectives and fresh ideas.
• To manage everything:
• • Make lists of all of your tasks.
  • Keep a calendar with due dates.
  • Keep a pulse on the community and check in on staff periodically.
  • Take notes. Use technology to keep track of her notes.
• Find ways to educate yourself, both formal and lived experience is important.
• Networking is essential. If you hear about someone or read about someone doing the work you want to do, reach out to them. There are people who will take you under their wing.

Reach Out:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melicentmiller/
• Twitter: @MelicentM
• Follow her on these two social media channels as she will soon be starting a new podcast called "Health EverywHERe" and you won’t want to miss anything!

Interested in being a guest on the podcast? Reach out to Leonore Okwara, MPH at leonore@publichealthresearchconsulting.com

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Exciting Announcement!!! Public Health Research Consulting, LLC will be hosting the inaugural “Research in Communities of Color Virtual Summit” October 19th, 20th, and 21st, 2020. This year’s theme is, “Increasing Community Engagement in Research in the Black Community.”

This podcast episode gives you a sneak peak into the online event where a panel of Public Health Professionals selected based on their expertise and experience in the field, come together to share community engagement strategies, practical ways to implement research, and research sustainability on the Thinkific Virtual Learning Platform. See below for additional information and the registration link. We hope you can join!

Overview of the Summit:

• The inspiration came from the very important question, ”How can public health researchers improve community engagement in research in the Black community?” The Summit was created to provide answers to this crucial question and more.

• There will be a theme for each day with the follow presentation topics:

• Monday, Oct 19th: Community Engagement

• Lessons Learned from Three Community-Based Researchers

• Improving Health Communication

• Using Community Health Workers (CHWs) to conduct research

• Tuesday, Oct 20th: The Research Process

• Tips and Strategies for Building Effective Community-Based Research and Programs

• Understanding the Informed Consent Process
• Program Management Strategies for Success

• Research Compliance

• Wednesday, Oct 21st: Sustainability

• Understanding the Importance of Health Policy in Research

• Developing Nonprofits in Communities of Color
• Grant Writing Essentials

Who Will Benefit from Attending the Virtual Summit?

• Students
• Postdocs
• Newly funded researchers/junior investigators
• Community members interested in learning about research

What can you expect?

• Sessions will be pre-recorded and uploaded to the Thinkific online learning platform for you to review at your own pace.
• Attendees will be able to engage with speakers through Zoom Q&A sessions each evening.
• If you cannot make the live Q&A, they will all be recorded and uploaded to Thinkific so you will not miss a thing.

CHES/MCHES Continuing Education Credits Information:

• The Summit will provide up to 5.5 category 1 continuing education credits to CHES/MCHES professionals.

Price & Registration:

• In order to make this Summit affordable, the cost to attend is $20 if you register now for the early bird discount and will increase to $35 on October 19th.
• You can REGISTER HERE for the inaugural “Research in Communities of Color Virtual Summit.”

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Okey Enyia, MPH is a Political Strategist, Thought-Leader, Scholar-Activist, Mentor, and Health Policy Advisor working at the intersections of policy, social justice and public health in Washington DC. The oldest of six siblings, Okey’s family’s roots are in Nigeria and he grew up in Chicago. He is currently working on his doctorate focusing on race, gender, equity, and health policy and how it relates to Black men and boys. He is an author of the book “Indisputable: The Story of the Favored Son” and has a consulting business focused on helping people advance their careers in health policy.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How his passion for becoming a medical doctor took a turn and he found his true calling in public health.
• How his faith and family have been the main inspiration for his life and career journey.
• His passion for exploring and understanding the health and wellbeing of Black men and boys.
• The inspiration for his book and how he wrote it in 90 days.
• His interest in exploring and understanding how Black men experience more racism and microaggressions as they build more wealth.
• His deep dive into the heart health of Black men.
• Why collecting quantitative data is important for health policy work.
• Why it is important to monetize your passion and turn purpose into profit.
• The importance of understanding your “why.”
• Why self-care is crucial for people of color and what he does to take care of himself.
• How free-writing/journaling are both therapeutic and often offer clarity.
• His newest publication “Men and Covid” looks at the social, psychological, and economic factors why men were more likely to die from covid than women and how policy can be enacted as a result.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• “What impact do you want to have on the world stage?”
• “How can I package my life experience to help other people?”
• “I had this natural affinity for seeing and assuring the best of black men in terms of their health and wellbeing. As a conscious black man, I’ve lived it. So how can I affect change in that context?”
• “We know that black men have the shortest life expectancy of any group in the United States.”
• “For black men the more money you make or the more wealth you have the more likely and intense the microaggressions and (the more) discrimination and racism manifest.”
• “Why is it with even more money that we (Black men) make, why are we still dying at disproportionate numbers?
• “If money weren’t an issue, what would you consider doing for free?”
• “In the policy world, numbers matter. Data matters.”

Action Steps:

• Take the time to figure out your motivation, purpose, and your “why.” Check out Enyia’s online courses on his website to dive deeper. See email link below.
• Identify your strengths and outsource what you need to. Get help when you need it!
• Building a career is a process- just keep doing the work.
• Check out Okey’s book “Indisputable: The Story of a Favored Son” on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Indisputable-Story-Favored-Okechuku-Enyia-ebook/dp/B07KRWGT9B

Reach Out:

• Website: https://enyiastrategies.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/okeyenyia/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/okey.enyia
• Twitter: @enyiastrategies
• Instagram: @enyiastrategies
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1_PkRb7_vnb1yXtXIodpRA/videos

To be a guest on the show, submit an application here: https://www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com/podcast-guest-application/

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Joyee Washington, MS, MPH, CHES is a Public Health and Education Research Consultant who works with individuals, groups, organizations, institutions, and communities to plan, implement, assess, evaluation and manage health education and community-based programs, as well as research. She is the founder of Joyee Washington Consulting, LLC and is completing her PhD in Educational Research at the University of Southern Mississippi with a focus on evaluation, statistics, and assessment specifically related to adolescent sexual health. She believes that power lies in community and the best way to access that power is by listening and uplifting the voices of the people through community engagement and action.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How the journey to a PhD is not a straight line but involves many twists and turns.
• Her focus on adolescent sexual health and teen pregnancy prevention.
• Her struggles and successes conducting Community-Based Participatory Research with a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.
• The importance of an engaged Community Advisory Board.
• Her biggest challenges working in Community-Based Research.
• Her top tips for planning for, implementing and evaluating Community-Based Research.
• The item(s) that you want to make sure you include in your research budget.
• The importance of planning for sustainability at the very beginning of the research planning process.
• The difference between community involvement and community engagement.
• Why recognizing a community’s strengths is crucial in the research process.
• The two key factors in helping communities solve problems.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• With regards to Community-Based Participatory Research: "It’s one thing to read about it in a book and another thing to actually do it.”
• “As researchers, we cannot go into their community and assume we know what they need. That will not work. That will create more problems as opposed to solutions.”
• “There is a lot that goes on in the background of CBPR. It is key to have a community advisory board.”
• Advice for Community-Based Researchers: “Don’t go in with any expectations. You have to be open. You have to be flexible.”
• “At the end of the day it isn’t about you, it is about the community.”
• “You have to plan for sustainability on the front end.”
• “When talking about community-based research and projects in general, equity is providing resources to those who need it the most.”
• “We have a responsibility to work with a community to uncover their strengths and use those strengths to achieve health equity.”
• “(Research) is more than numbers, data and experiments. We have to take time and ask what’s going on. Communities have to learn to empower themselves.”

Action Steps:

• Whenever working to help solve problems, make sure to meet people where they are and build trust and relationships by listening.
• Be flexible during the entire research process.
• Build a sustainability plan during the initial planning process.
• Remain open, because it is about the community, not your research expectations.
• Find the strengths!

Reach Out:

Visit Joyee’s website at: https://joyeewashington.com

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Olyvia Phillips is a Public Health Professional focusing on addressing health disparities for children and families. She has experience in children’s health and providing pediatric providers with the education they need to best serve their communities. She lives in Chicago and is working on her MPH. She lives in Chicago and is working on her MPH. She believes that public health is truly a collaborative field that necessitates work across sectors in many fields.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How COVID-19 is affecting children and families.
• How COVID-19 is exposing and bringing to light the already deep health inequalities in our communities.
• How routine well child visits are more important than ever.
• The questions surrounding how to keep kids and families safe and functioning during this pandemic.
• The effects of mis-information and how confusing this can be for families.
• Why the re-opening of schools is such a hard decision.
• How public health is something that touches all of our lives.
• The importance of health literacy and making sure we are using language that parents and children can understand.
• Her biggest frustrations with our current system.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• “We want to protect their (children’s) innocence as much as possible. Let them have imagination and let them play but we also want them to be healthy.”
• “Schools are central for social and emotional development but when you talk about putting people into this space and the virus spreads, how do we keep people safe?”
• “Every experience you have is related to public health.”
• “We need to take care of the basic needs of families.”

Action Steps:

• Be informed on what to do to be prepared.
• Work collaboratively to come up with solutions. We all must work together!

Reach Out:

• Podcast: Public Health for the Culture - publichealthfortheculture.buzzsprout.com
• Instagram: @therealpublichealth
• Email: publichealthfortheculture@gmail.com

Interested in being a guest on Public Health Culture? Connect with Leonore at www.publichealthresearchconsulting.com

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Nicole D. Vick, is an Author, Speaker, Public Health Advocate, Professor, and Image Consultant based in Los Angeles, CA. She is a Health Educator Coordinator at the Los Angeles County Department of Health and an adjunct professor at Occidental College where she teaches about health equity and social determinants of health. She is on the board of three community-based organizations: Esperanza Community Housing, Public Health Advocates and Physicians for Social Responsibility (LA chapter). She “fell in love with public health 20 years ago” and has never looked back. She believes in using her professional, educational and lived experience to teach, engage, and inspire.

In This Episode We Cover:

• What is at the heart of public health and her work.
• How she works with her undergraduate students to look inside themselves and start to formulate ideas on how each of them can make a difference in this field.
• Why commitment to your local community on a small scale is crucial in order to make bigger public health impacts.
• How to pursue being on your local community-based organization boards.
• What lived experiences have shaped her life and career path.
• How educational attainment is one of the top ten social determinants of health and how it affects all aspects of a person’s life.
• The need for eliminating current unfair systemic structures and the need to start over creating new systemic foundations.
• Top tips for managing public health projects and creating change.

Action Steps:

• Purchase her Book: Pushing Through: Finding the Light in Every Lesson where she talks about her life journey, her “ah-ha” moments, her struggles as a teen mom, and how public health concepts play out in a person’s life.
• Watch her TED talk on YouTube “Seeing Faces and Not Just Numbers.” In this talk, she amplifies the importance of understanding the lived experiences behind statistics, particularly in the field of public health education.
• Watch the documentary “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick” - a seven-part documentary series exploring racial and socioeconomic inequalities in health.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• “Ultimately public health is about community and trying to make communities better and healthier.”
• “People’s civil rights are not being met. Black people have to fight to have their humanity validated.”
• “We see health disparities. We see inequalities in quality of education. We see housing is unaffordable. We see high homelessness rates.”
• “Racism is the reason why we see so many different health outcomes.”
• “Poverty predicts poor health in such a profound way that if we could eliminate poverty, we could raise the status of our population in regards to health.”
• “It is an unfair situation as to how our community and society is structured. It keeps certain people in poverty. We need to do a better job of working towards eliminating those structures.”

Reach Out:

• Follow her on Instagram: @nicoledvick
• Find her on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-d-vick/
• Visit her website: www.nicoledvick.com (coming soon)

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Sandra Melstad, MPH is the founder and CEO of SLM Consulting, LLC. Sandra has worked in public health for over a decade focused on health promotion and chronic disease prevention and control initiatives; working to improve the health of rural and urban communities where people live, work, learn and play. Sandra is experienced with evidence-based public health practice, policy, system, and environment change, community health needs assessment and improvement, cancer prevention, epidemiology, and big data. She established SLM Consulting, LLC in 2012, which is focused on providing data driven public health solutions to create healthy communities and improve population health guided by prevention, research, and evidence-based public health. She calls South Dakota home and is currently working on her PhD at the University of South Dakota.

In This Episode We Cover:

• How conducting needs assessments are crucial to understanding the barriers and facilitators to improving health equity in rural communities.
• The barriers to health equity: practitioner skill level, policies, cultural values, and implicit biases.
• The importance of collaborating with not only traditional public health professionals but also non-traditional professionals, which is especially important in rural areas.
• How helping people understand what health equity is is the foundation of the work.
• Why working with clients on “out of the box” thinking is her priority.
• The importance of collaboration and community engagement in rural states such as South Dakota.
• What a needs assessment is and how we often don’t know what we don’t know.
• How she personally and professionally is working towards achieving health equity.
• Where the health equity research gaps are and what we can focus on to close those gaps.
• What steps you can take to start doing health equity work.

Stand-Out Quotes:

• "Rural communities are disproportionately impacted by chronic diseases and health outcomes.”
• “How do we get people to understand what health equity is?”
• “What are the root outcomes affecting (health) outcomes?”
• “A needs assessment is a comprehensive and collaborative process where diverse partners and the community are engaged to help collect data.”
• “If we can bring people together we can share resources and have a much better chance of making an impact.”

Action Steps:

• Engage with your neighbors, just be open and welcoming to all different mindsets so you can impact health outcomes.
• Think broadly and be intentional about health equity and community engagement.

Reach Out:

• Find her on the web:https://www.slmconsultingllc.com

• Follow her on social media: Instagram: @slmconsultingllc / Linked In: @slmconsulting / Facebook: @slmconsultingsolutions

Email her: sandra@slmconsultingllc.com

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Glennae E. Davis RN, is known as the Health Equity Nurse. She is a Registered Nurse based in Los Angeles, CA and has more than 25 years of healthcare experience. She helps faith-based career-driven women become empowered employees by enhancing the workers’ ability to appropriately cope with institutional racism preventing stress-related diseases and burnout. She does this through her company, RX for Life LLC, where she provides group training, health equity plans and education using an adaptation to the nursing process.

In This Episode We Cover:

• Who Glennae is, how she became the Health Equity Nurse, and what this means.
• Why education is the missing piece in workplace health equity.
• How providing workplace healthcare education is crucial and includes using workplace policies and healthcare policing to know and understand your rights as an employee and healthcare consumer.
• The ways in which she provides services, programs, and products to help people learn how to take a stand in the workplace and achieve health equity.
• How COVID-19 has affected her business and how she is re-thinking how to connect with people.
• How her first book, “Yet Here I Stand: My Journey from Bondage to Liberty” helps the reader better understand African American communities, how we view institutional racism, and how we as a community should resist so that there is equality in this country.
• Her upcoming second book, which is all about how to prevent burnout and health disparities.
• Advice to public health professionals doing health equity work.
• Recommendations for those who are working in healthcare who are experiencing constant job stress.

Let's connect!

• Connect with Glennae on Instagram @yourrxforlife
• Visit her website at www.yourrxforlife.com
• Subscribe to her YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/naesvision
• Connect with Leonore if you'd like to be a guest on the show leonore@publichealthresearchconsulting.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH and Chandra Jennings, MPH, CHES as they discuss the importance of health education and wellness programs in the workplace and the impact on access to care among minorities. 

Connect with Chandra on Instagram: @chandras_smile

To be a guest on the show, connect with Leonore: @publichealthculture

@leonore@publichealthresearchconsulting.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH and Gabriela Calvi, BS (in Public Health) as they discuss the importance of addressing health literacy in the Latino community. Gabriela provides strategies on clearly communicating health information to the community. She also hosts the podcast, Buenos Dias Salud, where she explains complex health issues in very simple terms. Her podcast is in Spanish and available on all platforms.

Connect with Gabriela!

Instagram: @buenos.dias.salud

Facebook: @gabrielacalvi, @BDsaludGC

LinkedIn: Gabriela Calvi

Podcast: Buenos Dias Salud (available on all podcast platforms)

If you would like to be a guest on Public Health Culture, reach out to Leonore at leonore@publichealthresearchconsulting.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH and Dieula Casimyr, MD, MPH as they discuss medical interpretation in healthcare, specifically among a diverse population. 

Dr. Casimyr is multilingual and relates with culturally diverse populations and endeavors to reduce the language barriers between diverse patients and their providers.

She is author of the book, Treating Culturally Diverse Patients? What You Should Know, which highlights language barriers and the lack of cultural competency in health care, and offers suggestions on how to overcome those barriers. Dr. Casimyr's book can be ordered on her website: www.casimyrcompetency.com

If you would like to be a guest on the podcast, visit www.leonoreokwara.com 

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses mental health and implicit bias with Spshelle Rutledge, MPH. Spshelle is a USMC Veteran as well as a public health and mental health advocate.

Sources mentioned:

Breaking Down Barriers Organization

Question Persuade Refer (QPR) Training

Mental Health America

Book: Racism, Science, and Tools for the Public Health Professional

Book: Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care

Connect with Spshelle:

www.spshelle.com

Instagram: @spshelle

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH and Alisa Howard, CHW-Instructor as they discuss public health policy, minority health, and Community Health Workers.

Alisa Howard is the founder and CEO for Minority Health Consultants and AHP Writing & Editing Co. Her passion for minority health led to the establishment of her consulting business where she works with companies that develop scopes of work to access minority communities. She advises them on how to reach the communities and develop programs. Alisa is also an advocate for public health policy and has worked with legislators in Nevada.

Get in touch with Alisa:

Website: www.alisahoward.com

Instagram and Twitter: @1alisahoward

LinkedIn: Alisa Howard

Facebook: Minority Health Consultants

To connect with Leonore, go to www.leonoreokwara.com or follow on Instagram @publichealthculture

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she interviews Marline D. Edmond, MA, CHES about her health communication expertise.

Health literacy tools:

1. Grammarly
2. SMOG Readability Formula
3. CDC Clear Communication Index

Book:

1. Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

Connect with Marline:

1. LinkedIn - Marline D. Edmond
2. Twitter and Instagram - munchydaplug

Connect with Leonore:

www.leonoreokwara.com

hello@leonoreokwara.com

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Join me, Leonore Okwara, MPH as I interview Christie VanHorne, M.Ed, MPH, founder of CVH Consulting. We discuss her newest venture, How to Talk to Your Doctor.

To get in touch with Christie, visit:

www.howtoyoutalktoyourdoctor.com

Facebook and Instagram: @howtotalktoyourdoctor

LinkedIn: Christie VanHorne, M.Ed, MPH

Twitter: @cvhconsulting

To connect with me, visit:

www.leonoreokwara.com

Instagram: @publichealthculture

LinkedIn: Leonore Okwara

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses her roles in public health as a research assistant, research coordinator, and program manager of a research lab.

Contact: www.leonoreokwara.com

Sign up for the Program Management Strategies virtual workshop: https://www.leonoreokwara.com/courses

Sign up for the Program Management Plan Development virtual course: https://www.leonoreokwara.com/courses

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Join me as I discuss the importance of updating communication methods in public health to address critical gaps with Sunshine Best, BA founder of the AmnAya Organization.

Sunshine is working towards her PhD, currently doing a MSPH in Global Environmental Health. My academic focus is multifaceted: Toxicology, Industrial Hygiene (Occupational Health) and improving knowledge access to support Public Health using Interdisciplinary Intervention Strategies, including mobile technology.

Read more about the article we discussed here:

Cancer Clusters in Houston, TX

To connect with Sunshine:

Email: sbest2@tulane.edu

Instagram: @itismyrealname

If you're interested in being a guest on the podcast, visit: https://www.leonoreokwara.com/public-health-culture

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she interviews Tasha Whitaker, BS, CHW, CHWI, founder of The Community Health Worker (CHW) Crew. Tasha Whitaker is the founder of The Community Health Worker (CHW) Crew, and podcast a community that strives to highlight, educate and empower community health workers around the globe. Through workshops, seminars or boots on the ground, she has a passion for providing education in the community. She has influenced more than 40,000 individuals in her 10 years of healthcare educating communities, organizations and schools. Tasha has a passion for community health, and it fuels her work of advocacy and service in numerous community leadership roles. Tasha has been featured on Reporting Texas, KYTX, CBS DFW, KXXV TV, and other publications as an advocate for health and wellness. As a speaker, she uses transparency and empowerment to motivate individuals to be change agents in the community they serve. Tasha has a Bachelor's in Health Studies and is a Certified Community Health Worker and Instructor for the State of Texas. Tasha speaks to youth, adults, and healthcare professionals, empowering them to live their best quality of life. Connect with Tasha here: Instagram @iamtashawhitaker and @thechwcrew
Website: https://www.tashawhitaker.com Connect with Leonore here: www.leonoreokwara.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses racial bias and pain treatment.

www.leonoreokwara.com

References mentioned:

1. Washington, H. A. (2006). Medical apartheid: The dark history of medical experimentation on Black Americans from colonial times to the present. New York: Doubleday.
2. Nonwhite patients get less pain relief in U.S. emergency rooms

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.physiciansweekly.com/nonwhite-patients-get-less/amp/

1. Effort to Control Opioids in Emergency Medicine Leaves Some Sickle Cell Patients in Pain:

https://khn.org/news/effort-to-control-opioids-in-emergency-medicine-leaves-some-sickle-cell-patients-in-pain/

1. Center for Disease Control Sickle Cell Data:

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html

1. Is Bias Keeping Female Minority Patients from Getting Proper Care for Their Pain:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/is-bias-keeping-female-minority-patients-from-getting-proper-care-for-their-pain/2019/07/26/9d1b3a78-a810-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html

1. Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whites:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4843483/

1. Education to Identify and Combat Racial Bias in Pain Treatment:

https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/education-identify-and-combat-racial-bias-pain-treatment/2015-03

1. Equal Status Contact:

https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/contact

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she chats with Quisha Umemba, MPH, BSN, RN, CDE who is the CEO and Founder of Umemba Health.

Umemba Health is a virtual health education company with a mission to create equal opportunities for health and to make chronic disease education more accessible and more affordable for everyone, everywhere.

Quisha is a Bachelors prepared registered nurse and holds a Master’s in Public Health. She is also a Certified Diabetes Educator, Certified Lifestyle Coach, and holds a certificate in Health Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary.

As a Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, Quisha consults with community organizations, social service agencies, government agencies, and healthcare systems to help them prevent and manage diabetes, prediabetes, and associated chronic diseases in their client populations.

Having had gestational diabetes, and now living with prediabetes, Quisha’s passion for helping individuals impacted by chronic disease stems from both a patient and provider perspective.

An advocate for health equity; her life’s mission is to empower, educate, and promote optimal health and wellness for all. To this effort, she provides training and education as a featured speaker and presenter at community events, churches, seminars, symposiums, conferences, and professional meetings.

You can find out more about Quisha and Umemba Health by visiting www.umembahealth.com or on social media:

• Umemba Health on Facebook, IG, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
• Umemba Health Academy on YouTube and the Podcast Name

You can also connect with me at www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses an upcoming opportunity to join the Public Health Culture Book Club and read "Medical Apartheid - The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present" by Harriet A. Washington. 

Sign up here: www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses public health work in barbershops and beauty salons.

Register for the event in College Park, MD: What Black Barbers and Stylists Say to Scientists: No Research on Us Without Us

https://sph.umd.edu/center/che/event/what-black-barbers-and-stylists-say-scientists-no-research-us-without-us

Colorado Black Health Collaborative in partnership with the Kaiser Permanente African American Center of Excellence in Culturally Competent Care: The Barbershop and Salon Health Outreach Toolkit

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/DC_CD-event_BBSP-Toolkit-Interactive.pdf

Want to guest host? Need help developing a culturally appropriate public health program? Have questions? Let’s connect!  www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she introduces Public Health Culture, LLC and discusses the importance of serving the community you truly care about.

Podcast topic ideas? Want to join an episode? Let's connect...

www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses a few historical events that have influenced research in the African American community.

www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses public health initiatives implemented in faith-based organizations.

SAMHSA: https://www.samhsa.gov/faith-based-initiatives/training-technical-assistance/coalitions-collaboratives

North Carolina Eat Smart Move More

• https://www.healthypeople.gov/sites/default/files/Block%20Grant%20North%20Carolina%20Final%20508-Ready.pdf
• https://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/Faith.html

CHAMP Lab: https://sph.umd.edu/department/bch/lab/43501

CDC: Faith-Based Organizations and Tobacco

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/partners/faith/index.html

NCI Research-Tested Intervention Programs (RTIPs): https://rtips.cancer.gov/rtips/searchResults.do

ASTHO: Partnerships to reach at-risk populations

http://www.astho.org/Infectious-Disease/At-Risk-Populations/At-Risk-Populations-Fact-Sheet-FBO/

Let's connect:

www.publichealthculture.com

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Are you a public health professional in the Washington DC - Maryland- Virginia area? Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses an opportunity to collaborate on a public health event in the DMV.

www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses ways your organization can become competitive for grants.

Let's connect!

www.publichealthculture.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses the importance of a Racial Equity Impact Assessment when developing public health programs to improve health outcomes in the black community.

Show notes

1. National Efforts: https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/hhs-response/index.html
2. The Opioid Crisis in Black Communities: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1073110518782949?journalCode=lmec
3. Race Forward: Racial Equity Impact Assessment Toolkit: https://www.raceforward.org/sites/default/files/RacialJusticeImpactAssessment_v5.pdf
4. SAMHSA Faith-based and Community Initiatives (FBCI): https://www.samhsa.gov/faith-based-initiatives

Contact me: www.thepublichealthconsultant.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she brings awareness to the opioid epidemic in the African American community.

Show notes:

1. CDC Definition: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/prescribing.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fdrugoverdose%2Fdata%2Foverdose.html
2. CDC Categories of Opioids https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/analysis.html
3. CDC Opioid Epidemic https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
4. HHS Opioid Epidemic https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/index.html
5. CDC Prescription Opioid Overdose Data https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/index.html
6. Healthy People 2020 Opioid deaths disparities overview (click the "+" next to MPS-2.4.1 and click "Disparities by race and ethnicity") https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/medical-product-safety/objectives
7. Separate, unequal and overlooked https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-01-28/black-americas-opioid-crisis-separate-unequal-overlooked
8. The Opioid Crisis in Black Communities https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1073110518782949?journalCode=lmec

To be a guest on the show, contact me here:

www.thepublichealthconsultant.com

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Join Leonore Okwara, MPH as she discusses culturally safe programs.

www.thepublichealthconsultant.com

CBPR Methods Book:

Israel, B., Eng, E., Schulz, A., & Parker E. (Eds.). (2013). Methods for community-based participatory research for health. John Wiley & Sons.

CBPR Case Studies:

Promoting Health Public Policy through Community-Based Participatory Research: Ten Case Studies

https://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/CBPR_final.pdf

CBPR Toolkits:

1. https://cbprtoolkit.org
2. https://www.aapcho.org/resources_db/cbpr-toolkit/
3. https://prevention.ucsf.edu/resources/community-based-participatory-research-toolbox

Cultural Safety:

1. Richardson, Sandra & Williams, Tracey. (2008). Why is cultural safety essential in health care?. Medicine and law. 26. 699-707.

2. Gerlach, A. J. (2012). A critical reflection on the concept of cultural safety. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 79(3), 151-158.

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Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) is an approach that all public health professionals (research and non-research) can benefit from incorporating when developing and implementing public health programs.

www.thepublichealthconsultant.com

References:

Minkler, M., & Wallerstein, N. (Eds.). (2011). Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes. John Wiley & Sons.

CBPR Definition: https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/Issues/2007/jul/06_0182.htm

Healthy People - Public Health Infrastructure: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/public-health-infrastructure

Healthy People - Educational and Community-Based Programs: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/educational-and-community-based-programs

Community Based Participatory Research and Health Equity: http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/Activities/PublicHealth/Culture-of-Health/2016-APRIL-27/Videos/Welcome%20and%20Panel%201/3-Wallerstein-Video.aspx

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If you have a topic idea, questions, or public health experience working in the African American community to share, let's chat! www.thepublichealthconsultant.com

Sources mentioned:

1. US Health and Human Services, Cultural Competence definition: https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/resources-and-training/tpp-and-paf-resources/cultural-competence/index.html
2. Healthy People 2020 Language and Literacy: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/social-determinants-health/interventions-resources/language-and
3. Healthy People 2020, Cultural Competence in a Multicultural World: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence
4. Cultural Humility definition - M. Tervalon, J. Murray-Garcia (1998). Cultural humility versus cultural competence: a critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education, Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, Vol. 9, No. 2. (May 1998), pp. 117-125. https://provider.bcbsil.com/pdf/education/guest_speaker_cultural_sensitivity.pdf
5. Cultural Humility YouTube documentary: Cultural Humility (complete)
6. Cultural Competemility - Campinha-Bacote, J., (December 4, 2018) "Cultural Competemility: A Paradigm Shift in the Cultural Competence versus Cultural Humility Debate – Part I" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 24, No. 1. http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-24-2019/No1-Jan-2019/Articles-Previous-Topics/Cultural-Competemility-A-Paradigm-Shift.html

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Join me as I continue the conversation about maternal morbidity and mortality among African American women.

Send topic ideas, questions, or information about the work you're doing in your community! Connect with me at www.publichealthculture.com

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Join me, Leonore Okwara, MPH, as I discuss an alarming public health crisis, Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the black community. If you have any questions, topic ideas, or information to share, please contact me.

www.thepublichealthconsultant.com