Health Equity Blogs

In this conversation, Nancy Foster, Vice President for Quality and Patient Safety Policy, talks with Sonia Perez, Chief Operating Officer, UnidosUS, and Clint Odom, Senior Vice President, Policy &a

The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated health inequities we face as a nation. But we’re also seeing innovation in all aspects of care delivery and community collaboration and partnerships to address these challenges. We know that the homes where people live and their support networks of family and friends influence people’s ability to stay healthy or recover quickly. Access to safe, affordable and stable housing is key to good health. Strong social connections are linked to longer life and better mental health, whereas a lack of such social ties is associated with depression and increased mortality.

In this conversation, Elisa Arespacochaga, Interim Executive Lead, Institute for Diversity & Health Equity and Vice President, AHA Physician Alliance, talks with Andrea Custis, President and CE

Sejal B. Shah, M.D., and Carla B. Monteiro, a licensed clinical social worker, at Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital write that stigma and disparities around the opioid epidemic can disproportionately affect the Black and African American communities. In this blog, they urge providers to utilize available resources to help treat those with substance and opioid use disorders.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed spotlight on health inequities in the United States. It has illuminated that, regardless of access to health care services, social and economic circumstances make some people more likely than others to become ill or have poor health.

World AIDS Day 2020 is unlike any other as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues. Many living with HIV have questions on whether they are at increased risk of serious health issues. Helpful resource links are included in this blog post.

Health care isn't something else we do, it is at the heart of everything we do. Health care organizations have many compelling reasons for making health equity a top priority. They include opportunities for providing tremendous value to patients, hospitals and the health care delivery system.

Health Equity Boards Addressing Social Needs

Native American Heritage Month reminds us about the devastating and disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on American Indian and Alaskan Native communities. It also presents an opportunity to re-focus efforts to help these communities overcome social and economic obstacles to improve overall health.

There are so many statistics being shared related to maternal mortality in the United States — but what is the real story?

In this conversation, Darren Henson, Director of Operations with the AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, speaks with Laura Vail, Director, Health Equity at Cone Health and Dr. Alvin Powell, Chief Health Equity Officer at Cone Health.

In this conversation, Elisa Arespacochaga, vice president of the AHA’s Physician Alliance and interim executive lead for the AHA’s Institute for Diversity an Health Equity, talks with Essa Mohamed,

A list of podcasts from the AHA on health equity, diversity, and inclusions.

In this conversation, Elisa Arespacochaga, vice president of the AHA’s Physician Alliance and interim executive lead for the AHA’s Institute for Diversity an Health Equity, talks with Rita Carreon, deputy vice president for health, UnidosUS, about health inequities in Latinx communities with a focus on COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season.

The fifth in the series featured Dr. Estes talking with Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom, Senior Vice President of Community Health & Equity and Chief Wellness & Diversity Officer at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Michigan's First Surgeon General about health equity.

Access to potentially life-saving mammograms is more difficult for women who face with social determinants of health such as low-income, lack of transportation or the inability to take time off from work.

In this Advancing Health podcast about Cone Health and how it has pioneered educational sessions for its physicians about social and racial influences in health care, Darren Henson, Director of Operations with the AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity, speaks with three members of Cone Health’s leadership team: Laura Vail, Director of Health Equity, Dr. Alvin Powell, Chief Health Equity Officer and Paul Jeffrey, President of Cone Health’s Wesley Long Hospital. Cone Health, winner of the AHA’s 2020 Equity of Care Award, has been recognized for its innovative process and creative steps that hospitals and health systems can incorporate to achieve similar success in advancing health equity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought increased attention to the issue of health care disparities. And it’s clear we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to close the gaps.

In this Members in Action podcast featuring maternal and child health efforts, we are speaking with Dr. Ken Fawcett, Vice President and Peggy Vander Meulen, Manager of Community Health Programs of Spectrum Health Healthier Communities program.

In this podcast, we have Priya Bathija, vice president of Strategic Initiatives at the AHA and Dr.