Around the country, health departments are seeking to address what many are naming as the root of the root causes of health inequities: power. Power is the ability to create the change we want to see, even against the resistance of others. Building community power to shape the conditions that affect health is a key strategy for advancing racial and health equity, with community-based organizations often leading the work. Berkeley Media Studies Group is creating research-informed tools to support journalists in reporting on how power intersects with issues that affect health and how building community power can lead to healthier, safer, and more just communities.

A key step is understanding how news coverage reflects and transmits elements of power - like equity, inclusion, participation, and justice. We developed a research and coding process to assess how these and other facets of community power appear in 2019 news from 6 major California outlets about topics like health, housing, and education. Our analysis focuses on whose voices are included in stories, how the responsibility of individuals and institutions for causing – and solving – social problems is characterized, and how displays of community power (such as vigils, demonstrations, and organizing campaigns) are framed.

In this session we will watch a clip from the forthcoming documentary by KCET that investigates the connection between power and health at individual, community and societal levels; review key findings from our analysis, discuss how social movements can shift coverage and help shift power, and share tools to engage reporters around making power visible in the news.

Despite an emerging focus on building competencies in health care disparities, health inequities, cultural humility, implicit bias, and the social determinants of health in undergraduate medical education (UME), efforts have been inconsistent and often lagging at the graduate medical education (GME) and continuing medical education (CME) levels. These vastly underappreciated areas of study are increasingly important in healthcare delivery given our rapidly changing population demographics, and there is an enormous need to infuse this curriculum into GME and CME to ensure these concepts aren’t lost when practitioners are best equipped to apply such knowledge to their own practice.

A multi-platform, case-based curriculum was created between the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Arizona and Arizona State University (ASU) whereby online modules and in-person lectures are iteratively delivered on the topics of health care disparities, cultural humility, implicit bias, and the social determinants of health. The target audience includes medical faculty and resident physicians, as well as research coordinators. Researchers will use multiple validated instruments in pre- and post-lecture testing. Participants will complete the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, the Cross-Cultural Competence of Healthcare Professionals instrument, and the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess providers’ cultural awareness and their preparedness for working with different cultures.

At the end of this year-long program, we anticipate an improvement in scores on all instruments indicating higher levels of cultural competency and empathy, lower levels of implicit bias, and improved knowledge of the concepts as demonstrated by higher post-lecture scores. An annual report will be created collating assessment results, process mapping, and opportunities to scale the program.

In 2011, the Sacramento County Death Review Team released a 20-year report revealing that African American children were dying at twice the rate of any other ethnic group in the county. In response to these striking results, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors created a Blue Ribbon Commission on Disproportionate African American Deaths. This commission released a report in 2013 with goals and recommendations to reduce mortality amongst African American children. The top four preventable causes of African American child death were: perinatal conditions, infant sleep-related, child abuse and neglect, and third-party homicides.

To tackle these issues, First 5 Sacramento led the Reduction of African American Perinatal and Infant Deaths initiative through the use of three programs: Pregnancy Peer Support Programs, the Infant Safe Sleep Campaign, and a Public Education Campaign.

Using three-year rolling averages, the campaign contributed to countywide decreases in overall African American infant death (23% overall reduction from 2012-2014 to 2015-2017 and 42% reduction in disparity between African American infants and all other races), African American infant sleep-related deaths (57% overall reduction from 2012-2014 to 2015-2017 and 33% reduction in disparity), and African American child abuse and neglect homicides (85% overall reduction from 2012-2014 to 2015-2017 and 98% reduction in disparity).

Attendees of this session will learn how Sacramento achieved these drastic results, both big-picture ideas and specific details of the programs.

Introduction: The tremendous disparities seen during the COVID-19 pandemic warrant a reformation of how the United States promotes, protects and preserves the health of all people. Health disparities pre-date this pandemic and, without radical intervention, health disparities will likely continue to persist well after the current crisis is over. Those affected most by COVID-19 fall into minority, economically challenged, or socially vulnerable groups, including African American, Latino, and American Indian individuals (CDC, 2020). A critical step to eliminating health disparities is to ensure that evidence-based information is easily accessible and understandable across sectors particularly to vulnerable and at-risk groups.

Conclusion: Dissemination of evidence-based information a key strategy for improving public health. The Flint Community webinar series is a useful and practical example of translating research to varied audiences during a pandemic.