Healthcare leaders and practitioners around the country are increasingly understanding the urgency of two foundational goals—addressing health-related social needs and improving racial equity—and seeking ways to act on them. Yet there’s an important (and sometimes overlooked) truth that must be applied to these efforts for them to succeed. It is that meeting social needs and improving racial equity are not separate pursuits. Without a focus on equity within health-related social needs interventions, underlying inequities can persist. To be effective, the two efforts must go hand in hand.

Pioneering institutions across the country are already answering the call to intentionally center racial equity in social needs interventions. In this webinar, we heard directly from some of them as they share lessons learned from the field. These panelists, all participants in HealthBegins’ training and education programs, work in settings from health systems to community-based organizations. And their experience demonstrates that there can be many entry points into the work of addressing equity while moving upstream—all supported by a sound strategy for change and a Quality Improvement approach to continuous learning.

Speakers:

• Sara Bader, Senior Manager, Upstream Quality Improvement, HealthBegins (host)
• Natalie Harper, Community Health Advocacy Initiative Manager, MetroHealths
• Dan Behrens,, MHA Manager, Population Health Care Delivery, Allina Health
• Susan Frantz, Food Security Director, LiveWell Greenville
• Ma’ta Crawford, Community Advocate, LiveWell Greenville

Webinar Objectives:

By the end of the webinar, attendees will be able to:

• Describe why an explicit focus on racial equity is essential when designing and implementing solutions to address social needs
• List examples of ways in which mission-aligned organizations are centering racial equity in their social needs interventions
• Identify at least one action your organization can take to prioritize racial equity in your upstream work