Health Care Improvement Foundation

That’s a wrap! We had an amazing time at #APHA2024. We learned so much, and loved connecting with other public health professionals with common goals and commitments. Today, we attended sessions on: 🏘️ Community health needs assessments and improvement plans 🩺 Promoting health equity within reproductive care 💡 Empowering communities with health education and promotion 📋 Developing policies and interventions to address community health Wrapping up the conference, the closing session featured local and national public health leaders in an engaging discussion on the importance of collaboration. They emphasized the need for strong partnerships across government, healthcare, business, and philanthropy to prioritize public health and drive meaningful impact.

Today at #APHA2024, we had a packed agenda of so many topics! We attended sessions addressing: 🌲 Impact of environmental injustice on Black, Brown, and Indigenous people in Minneapolis 👓 Improving surveillance of vision and eye care 🏳️🌈 Public health implications of LGBTQ policies 📈 Impact of military occupation on public health ⚖️ Examining reproductive policy and practice 🗣️ Amplifying Black youth voices in mental health initiatives 📄 Firearm prevention policies and trauma-informed strategies for enhanced victim support Today has been so impactful. It’s one thing to learn about efforts to address key public health challenges, but hearing directly from representatives of the communities at the heart of these discussions adds invaluable perspective. Public health touches every part of our lives, and it’s inspiring to be surrounded by professionals who are so passionate and committed to health equity and justice.

We had a great first day at #APHA2024! ⭐️ Sehrish presented on behalf of HCIF as a Healthy People 2030 champion, about our work in health literacy and other community-centered programming ⭐️ Attended impressive presentations including: * Expanding Guaranteed Income Research and Evaluating Outcomes to Address Social Determinants of Health * Employing Community-Engaged, Place-Based Approaches to Addressing Health Inequities * Health Behavior Change Research and Policy Implementation ⭐️ Explored bits of Minneapolis including visiting George Floyd’s Memorial. This was incredibly meaningful, and we were grateful to bump into several community leaders who shared stories with us about how the murder of George Floyd has impacted their community and their racial justice work.

☀️ This morning, HCIF’s Sehrish Rashid presented as a Healthy People 2030 champion at the APHA’s 2024 Annual Meeting & Expo! Along with two other champions on the panel, Sehrish shared how HCIF has used Healthy People 2030 – a reliable source of science, evidence, and data – to advance our health literacy and other community-centered programming throughout the years. This presentation is consistent with APHA’s 2024 theme, Rebuilding Trust in Public Health and Science, and provided insights regarding the ways in which HCIF drives health equity through its statewide health literacy efforts, builds trust and transparency with all partners across community health programs, and ensures that the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse populations are highlighted across the greater Philadelphia region. ✨ Stay tuned over the next few days as we share more about our experience at #APHA2024! American Public Health Association

In a few days, our team members Sehrish Rashid, MPH, MA, and Cassidy Tarullo Burrell, MPP, are heading to the 2024 APHA Annual Meeting! 🎉 We’re excited to connect with public health professionals from across the country and learn from the incredible presentations and discussions happening at the event. Stay tuned as we’ll be posting some live updates! ✨ #APHA2024 

🎤 We are revamping our COACH website! 🌐 With the support from Chris Esh and Spacious Philly team, our COACH website is being refreshed with up-to-date information through videos, infographics, articles, visuals, and more. As our team continues to make these updates, we encourage you to click on the link below and explore away! Collaborative Opportunities to Advance Community Health (COACH) is an initiative that brings together hospital/health system, public health, and community partners to address community health needs in southeastern Pennsylvania. COACH is sponsored by HAP and facilitated by HCIF. Click here to learn more: https://coachpa.org/

Although the 2025 Regional Community Health Needs Assessment won't be released until next summer 😎 🌴 , we wanted to share a few additions we're making to enhance the breadth and depth of the assessment: ⭐ Fielded a Community Survey - received 6k+ responses, in multiple languages ⭐ Added new quantitative indicators, with additional trending over time ⭐ Increased the project's capacity with dedicated qualitative and quantitative expert researchers/analysts - including a youth-trained researcher ⭐ Hosted 2 community discussions in languages other than English ⭐ Facilitated discussions for key priority groups: maternal health, rehabilitation/disability, and vision health ⭐ Created a framework to develop a new list of youth priorities   These additions will provide hospitals, health systems, health departments, community based organizations, and community residents with even more information on the health the Southeastern Pennsylvania region! Check out the 2022 rCHNA here: https://lnkd.in/eNV3ksCr

🗳️ Last Day to Register to Vote in Pennsylvania! 🗳️ Today is the final day to register to vote! Participating in elections is essential for the health of our communities. Make sure your voice is heard – visit https://lnkd.in/gsSH2Bd to register, check your status, find your polling place, and more! 

🍂✨ Fall is here, and it's the perfect time to protect yourself and your community! ✨🍂 Getting vaccinated against the flu in the fall gives your body the perfect amount of time to build immunity before the virus spreads widely. 🩺 Why get vaccinated? • Protect yourself and loved ones • Help reduce the spread in our community • Stay healthy and keep our healthcare systems strong For more information on where to get vaccinated, visit vaccines.gov. Stay safe and healthy! 🧡🍁

🌟 Our latest newsletter is out, featuring tons of program updates🌟 ✨ Welcoming new Cities for Better Health partners 📊 Highlights from our recent Health Equity Data Strategy collaborative meeting 🩺 Updates on our work with the Pennsylvania Urologic Regional Collaborative for #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth 📣 Exciting announcements about APHA 2024 Annual Meeting! 👥 Updates on our community engagement for the 2025 Regional Community Health Needs Assessment 📝 Outlining key findings related to our Surgical Opioid Stewardship collaborative in our PENNJ-SOS Executive Report. 🔗 Read the full newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eVuBMTvM