Emory Urban Health Initiative: Applying Principles of Participatory Community Engagement to Advance Health Equity (On-demand webinar)

Note: This is a recording of a webinar held on September 14, 2022.

Training Overview

The Emory Urban Health Initiative (UHI) has a mission to provide health disparities education and advocacy, build collaborative partnerships, and develop best practice models with low-wealth communities and those who work with them to advance equity in health and well-being. This webinar will describe the work of UHI in advancing the social, economic, and ecological wellbeing of communities in the Atlanta metro area. Participants will learn about best-practice models for participatory community engagement within low-wealth and underserved communities. Attendees will also gain perspective about the collaborative model of the program in developing health career students into future professionals who embrace and engage communities in self-efficacy and experiential approaches to solving the health problems affecting their communities.

This recording is approximately 90 minutes. There are no prerequisites. Participants will need a broadband internet connection (Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred browsers) and computer speakers. For technical support, please contact emoryphtc@emory.edu.

CERTIFICATE:  The course contains two modules: a module to access the webinar and an evaluation module. After accessing both modules, learners will earn a certificate of completion. When the certificate is available, learners will see a Certificate button on their dashboard.

About the Trainer
Stacie Schmidt, MD is an Associate Professor of General Internal Medicine and Co-Director of the Emory Urban Health Initiative (UHI). Dr. Schmidt also serves as Medical Director of the Primary Care Center (PCC) at Grady Memorial Hospital, an academic, safety net, hospital-based clinic accommodating approximately 70,000 visits a year, mostly to uninsured, low health-literacy patients with multiple chronic illnesses. She also provides inpatient care at Grady Memorial Hospital. Dr. Schmidt's research focuses on improving patient self-efficacy and self-management skills among underserved and underrepresented individuals with chronic diseases in the ambulatory setting.  

Carolyn Aidman, PhD, a Certified Labor Doula, is the Associate Director of the Emory Urban Health Initiative and as such, she develops programs, engages Emory and other universities’ faculty, staff and student and community members as volunteers, interns, and Fellows. She attracts them to initiatives such as Atlanta Doula Connect, matching pregnant teens and women with birth supporters who help them through labor and delivery. She works on UHI’s Cancer Detecting Dogs project, the Rolling Suitcase Drive for homeless women and children, Dental Diversion, and many other projects.  

Joan Wilson MS, JM, FACHE, is the Assistant Director of Emory UHI. Originally from Atlanta, Joan has worked for a number of healthcare, academic and scientific research institutions over her career, including Yerkes Primate Research Center, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Grady Health System, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine prior to her work with UHI. Some of her current projects within UHI involve addressing food insecurity issues in urban Atlanta and teaching business skills, leadership principles, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects to inner-city youth in an entrepreneurial program she developed.

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB6HP31680, Public Health Training Centers for $4,348,992. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.