244998 Health Equity Action Training (HEAT): Achieving social justice in public health

Tuesday, November 1, 2011: 3:24 PM

Karen A. D'Angelo, MSW , NIH EXPORT Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos, Hispanic Health Council, Hartford, CT
Carmen Chaparro, MS , Department of Health & Human Services, City of Hartford, Hartford, CT
Rita Kornblum, BA , Department of Health & Human Services, City of Hartford, Hartford, CT
Shanta Evans, MBA , New Haven Health Department, New Haven, CT
Grace Damio, MS, CDN , NIH EXPORT Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos, Hispanic Health Council, Hartford, CT
The Hispanic Health Council, Inc. in partnership with the Hartford Department of Health and Human Services and the New Haven Health Department developed the Health Equity Action Training curriculum and delivered it to over 200 staff members. The training was the workforce development component of multifaceted health equity initiatives of the two cities. The purpose of this training was to prepare the public health workforce to more fully address the social determinants of health affecting their communities. The training goals were to expose health department staff to the departments' health equity initiatives, promote understanding of the social determinants of health, establish common language for health equity, and engage staff in developing strategies to address health inequities through the course of their current work.

The twelve-hour training consisted of three modules, including Social & Health Equity, Undoing Racism, and Stereotyping & Bias. Each module utilized a participatory approach to learning and contained didactic content and experiential exercises. Topics included social inequities, social justice, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized racism, stereotyping, bias, and oppression. Participants brainstormed ways that their department could better address the social determinants of health, and completed individualized Health Equity Action Plans that included personal commitments to address specific health equity goals.

Evaluation methods included: pre/post assessments to measure changes in participant knowledge, satisfaction surveys, and documentation of suggestions for improving community health. Preliminary results indicate high levels of satisfaction and perceived usefulness of the training to participants' public health work. Full results and lessons learned will be presented.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Diversity and culture
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
List the overall objectives of the HEAT Training; Identify educational strategies for preparing public health department staff to address the social determinants of health through their regular work; Describe the findings; Name three or more “lessons learned” from the development and implementation of the HEAT Training.

Keywords: Workforce, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the cross-cultural trainer for the Center for Eliminating Health Disparities among Latinos. I have led the development of this curriculum, facilitated the training, and administered the evaluation procedures.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.