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2013 Toledo-Lucas county Minority Health Summit
As a closing for the Minority Health Month, April 2013, the Toledo-Lucas County Commission on Minority Health organized the summit: “Heath Equity through Community Partners,” sponsored by the Ohio Commission on Minority Health.
The vision for this summit was to provide presentations and a panel discussion with academic researchers, health care providers and planners, grassroots community leaders and members of the public on ways to empower racial and ethnic minority communities to plan and carry out evidence-based health initiatives in partnership with larger institutions.
Hiram Fitzgerald, Ph.D., an Associate Provost for the University Outreach and Engagement and University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University and Isaias Solis, MSW, coordinator of the Ingham County Health Department, Power of We Consortium talked about “Transforming Community Systems.” They discussed the importance of organizations working together, which they named it “Collective Impact.”
Also, Morris Jenkins, J.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work and Associate Professor in Criminal Justice, gave a presentation on how mental health, social differences, and health disparities make an impact on juvenile delinquency, especially in minority sectors.
The interdisciplinary panel discussion took part at the end of the summit with opened questions related to minority health, discrepancies and ways to improve them. The panelists were the professionals mentioned above, and also Tracee Perryman (Executive Director of the Center of Hope Family Services), Michelle Boose (MD, ProMedica Health System), Dr. Shanda Gore (Associate Vice President for Equity, Diversity and Community Engagement, University of Toledo), Linda Parra (President/Projects Director, Nuestra Gente Community Project), and Mbonu Ikezuagu (MD, Mercy Health Partners). The moderators were Kristian Brown from Channel 13abc, Toledo, and Dr. Anita Lewis-Sewell, founder and Executive Director of the Lighthouse Road.
April was a month filled with activities to bring awareness and community engagement. The summit was not “totally” a closing event, but actually an open-door to local organizations to develop and start new collaborations and partnerships and to empower minority communities.
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