Health Equity Leadership Institute (HELI)

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The Collaborative Center for Health Equity is hosting its 6th annual Health Equity Leadership Institute (HELI) June 14- 19. The week-long Institute partners with collaborators at the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity, as well as twenty-two diverse health equity/health disparities Scholars from Wisconsin, the region and across the nation!

In partnership with the Maryland Center for Health Equity in the School of Public Health, University of Maryland College Park, HELI is an intensive weeklong “research boot camp” focused on increasing the number of investigators, particularly minority investigators, engaged in health disparities/health equity research that are successful in tenure track academic appointments in schools of public health, medicine and other health and behavioral health science disciplines, assisting them in achieving research funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Monday, June 15

  • ‘Voices Heard’ presented by Dr. Dorothy Farrar-Edwards

9:30 – 10:30 am, DeLuca Forum in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard

Partnering with representatives of Wisconsin tribal, African American, and Latino/Hispanic communities to identify and enhance participation in biomarker research is the focus of this talk. The Voices Heard research study recognizes that failure to engage diverse individuals in biomarker research actually serves to increase health disparity ‘gaps’ by failing to identify the causes of risk differences and mediating/moderating effects of environmental, socioeconomic and behavioral variables on health outcomes. Principle Investigator, Dorothy Farrar-Edwards, PhD and her study team connected with more than 800 individuals using qualitative and quantitative methods to learn with and from members of minority and majority groups about perceptions of research.  For this session Dr. Edwards will present the findings of the telephone survey including similarities and differences in attitudes about research participation across racial and ethnic groups.

  • ‘Building Trust: Part 1’ presented by Dr. Stephen B. Thomas & Dr. Sandra Crouse Quinn

10:30 – 11:45 am, DeLuca Forum in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard

Building Trust between Minorities and Researchers is a National Bioethics Research Infrastructure Initiative, funded by the NIH Office of the Director and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.  Based on research with investigators, IRB members, and African American and Latino community members across the US, the Building Trust (BT) team developed several curricula aimed at building trust, enhancing capacity of investigators to work effectively with minority communities, and increasing understanding and interest in research in minority communities.  This interactive session will provide a brief overview of the BT initiative.  Then, HELI scholars will participate in the first module, Research, Race and Social Justice, in order to examine how social and historical context affect the research interaction between potential participants and researchers.

  • ‘Healing the Schism: Transformation of the SMPH’ presented by Dean Bob Golden

2:00 – 2:30pm, DeLuca Forum in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Buidling, 330 N. Orchard

The complimentary disciplines of medicine and public health have long been separated. This presentation will note the characteristics of each approach and summarize the historic roots of the separation. The transformation of our medical school into a school of medicine and public health is an ongoing experiment in the reunification of these approaches. The transformation process, including the creation of specific goals, vision, and outcome metrics, will be described, along with lessons to be learned regarding institutional change.

Wednesday, June 17

  • ‘Tribal-Academic Partnerships Addressing Health Equity’ presented by Moderator: Dr. Alex Adams & Panelists: Isaish Brokenleg, Dr. Tim Frandy, Dr. Emily Tomayko and Brian Jackson

8:00 – 9:15 am: Union South (Check ‘Today at the Union’ signs for Room)

This panel will introduce a variety of impactful academic-tribal partnerships designed to address disparities in health and health outcomes. Specifically, panelists will focus on advancing tobacco cessation, promoting lifestyle changes (diet, physical activity, sleep routines, and stress reduction) to address obesity in families and intentional use of cultural knowledge to effect health and transform health care delivery.

  • ‘Saving the Life of Somebody you know: A Dane County African-American Cancer Outreach Project’ presented by Dr. Tracy Downs, Dr. Floyd Rose, Dr. Liz Jacobs, Erin Bailey and Ed Murray

10:30 – 11:45 am: Union South (Check ‘Today at the Union’ signs for Room)

The 100 Black Men of Madison and CHDI have partnered in outreach and education activities to reduce prostate cancer incidence and mortality since September 2012.  In 2013, together with Drs. Tracy Downs and Liz Jacobs, we began discussions on conducting a research project to test a culturally appropriate educational intervention on informed decision making (IDM) with local African American men.  In 2014, the partners developed Save the Life of Somebody You Know: Improving informed decision making for prostate cancer screening among African American men in Dane County in the post-PSA era, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project. This panel of community and academic partners will highlight partnership building both locally and nationally, and the strategic use of CBPR principles to address health disparities in local communities.

Thursday, June 18

  • Advancing Health Equity Through Dissemination and Implementation Science presented by Melody Bockenfeld and Dr. Sarah Paige

10:30 – 11:30 am, DeLuca Forum in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard

Increasingly, attention and resources are being devoted to closing the gap between what is known to be effective in promoting health and improving health care delivery, and what actually gets adopted and implemented in practice and by communities.   Melody Bockenfeld will talk about the UW Institute of Clinical and Translational Research’s (ICTR)  new initiatives and resources to support Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) science; share strategies to assist you in disseminating and implementing your research; and discuss how D&I can advance health equity.  Sarah Paige will discuss her experience as an ICTR Dissemination grant awardee, and share the story of disseminating findings from the Kibale EcoHealth Project with her partners in Uganda.

  • Dissemination & Implementation II: Using Social Media presented by Jessica Burda

12:30 – 1:15 pm, DeLuca Forum in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard

Social Media has become a primary communication vehicle in our daily lives away from the office. But much of academia has been slow to adapt its use professionally. UW ICTR Research Communication Specialist, Jessica Burda, will share about how Social Media can be used in research, including using it to connect with fellow researchers and existing or potential community partners.

Friday, June 19

  • Measuring Disparities by Place or Race: Implications for Advocacy presented by Dr. Pat Remington

8:00 – 9:00 am, DeLuca Forum in the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery Building, 330 N. Orchard

The county health rankings does not include race in our measures. Interestingly, there’s been virtually no demand for “race-specific” rates. Why not? Should we produce race-specific measures (in addition to place-specific measures)? It may be that place-based rankings garner more interest, as these include all people living in that place, and places have elected officials responsible for the health of the public.

For more information, visit the Health Equity Leadership Institute here.