Social Determinants of Health & Health Equity: Where we live, what we eat, and how we access care
Medico-legal community come together to discuss how our environment and consumption impact our health outcomes
The American University Washington College of Law Health Law & Policy Brief symposium brought together public health professionals and health law experts to discuss the social determinants of health, focusing on how housing, food access, and healthcare location impact health outcomes.
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The first panel, moderated by Professor Thomas Williams, featured Professor Emily A. Benfer, Professor Andrea Freeman, and Doctor Bunmi Ogungbe. They discussed how historical practices have excluded black and brown communities from safe housing, nutritious food, and affordable care.
The second panel, moderated by Michael Aniton, focused on solutions, with experts like Yael Cannon and Evan Cass highlighting the positive impact of Medical-Legal partnerships. Doctor Shilpa Patel spoke about the challenges of transportation and digital literacy faced by families in medical deserts.
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The symposium underscored American University Washington College of Law's commitment to social justice by exploring these issues and potential solutions. This discussion is a reminder of the importance of addressing social determinants of health to create a more equitable healthcare system.
The scholars expertly demonstrated the impact of social inequities, revealing how they restrict access to safe housing, nutritious food, and other necessities, thus jeopardizing health outcomes.
Benfer highlighted the profound impact access to safe housing has on health outcomes, even affecting mortality rates. She pointed out how lead exposure, mold growth during residence, eviction, and homelessness all significantly worsen health. By addressing these issues, particularly in impoverished minority communities, we could prevent many negative health outcomes.
“Your health is more impacted by where you live and grow up than your genetics. Currently, African American children are three times more likely to suffer the long-term impacts of environmental factors such as lead exposure based on the zip code that they are in. For example, Ward 7, and 8, in DC, the two wards with the most housing insecure communities in DC, are most likely to have residents that suffer from long term asthma.”
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Ogungbe and Freeman explored the historical roots of systemic barriers that exclude Black and Brown communities from accessing safe housing, nutritious food, and affordable healthcare. They emphasized the importance of community-engaged research methods to address these issues. Dr. Ogungbe specifically focused on the impact of these discriminatory systems on cardiovascular health, the leading cause of death globally.
“To sum up in two words how we can address these historical harms; reparations and abolition. The greatest mass execution in U.S. history, which was in the Dakota War, started by the withholding of rations.” Freeman articulated. “The system has perpetuated states of exclusion. We must understand the whole picture.”
The second panel had an insightful conversation on the positive impact of Medical-Legal partnerships on health outcomes of various communities amongst other factors that may impact it.
Dooley touched upon the bureaucratic issues that people come across when trying to get a hold of their public benefits. Due to difficult application processes, many individuals lose their opportunity to utilize their public benefits even when they are eligible.
Patel mentioned how transportation and digital literacy are other issues of access that she has come across in her own role as a pediatric medical practitioner.
“These parents sometimes bring a patient to see me while taking care of her other children, and they have taken 2 buses and a few hours just to be able to come see me.” she emphasized “This is a major access problem that impacts the long-term health outcomes of children from historically disadvantaged communities that are in medical deserts”
American University Washington College of Law Health Law and Policy Brief brought together a plethora of voices from various disciplines and engaged everyone present in a thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion. This underscores the commitment of American University Washington College of Law to championing societal welfare by actively participating in legal endeavors aimed at empowering marginalized communities.
To see more photos of the event, click here.
Story by Hasini Jayawardena.