Conference Synthesis
The Future of Health Equity
The Future of Health Equity conference convened a vibrant mix of thought leaders and health practitioners to explore the challenges and opportunities we all face in our efforts to advance health equity.
Conference Goals, Purpose, and Outcomes
The widespread disparities in the prevalence of chronic diseases and barriers to health equity require out-of-the-box thinking or, more precisely, innovation. This one-day, solutions-oriented conference will create a space to think, innovate, and identify new approaches and collaborations to advance health equity.
First, we will consider the real-world nuances and implications of the social determinants of health and identify some of the inventive ways practitioners are mitigating the social and environmental factors that drive health disparities. Second, we will explore the challenges facing state and local hospitals, workforce boards, and community colleges in building and training a healthcare workforce that’s experiencing huge post-COVID stress.
Finally, we will probe the emergence of “well-being hubs,” a reference to the nonconventional places like libraries and faith-based organizations that are expanding access to health services; these “hubs” enhance the role of non-clinicians and reimagine how healthcare is delivered. The invitation-only event will bring together scholars, practitioners, and funders to spark cross-disciplinary conversations and brainstorm future planning to advance a new vision for health equity.
Keynotes
Uvalde and the Future of Health Equity
No American town has been in the recent spotlight as much as Uvalde, Texas. And yet the issues facing Uvalde run even deeper and wider than recovery from unthinkable tragedy. Uvalde, Texas, is, in many ways, a microcosm of the social, economic, health, and demographic transitions underway in Texas and the United States.
UT history professor, MacArthur Fellow, and USA Today Woman of the Year, Monica Martinez; UT Social Work professor and director of the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, Noël Busch-Armendariz and Chief Operations Officer for Community Health Development, Inc. in Uvalde, Amber Arthur will discuss their current, on-the-ground work to mitigate social and health inequalities while also advancing community resilience in Uvalde.
Health Equity and the Future of Philanthropy
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the way foundations view the communities in which they invest. How do three leading foundations view the current health equity needs of their communities and regions? What are these foundations’ new funding priorities? And what kinds of research and community collaborations do they anticipate funding in the near term and beyond? This keynote discussion features representatives from three prominent Texas foundations: Jo Carcedo is Vice President for Grants at Episcopal Health in Houston ; Regan Moffitt is Vice President of Community Investments for St. David’s Foundation in Central Texas; and Kevin Lambing is Senior Program Officer for Health at the T.L.L. Temple Foundation in Lufkin.
For more information, contact Dr. Bruce Kellison (bkellison@ic2.utexas.edu).
Panels
Rethinking the Social Determinants of Health
Shaping a New Healthcare Workforce
Well-being hubs and the future of healthcare