Seeking Health Equity: Understanding and Taking Actions on the Root Causes of Health Disparities (Online Workshop on 5/30/2024)

Note: This workshop has limited capacity. If you are unable to enroll, the course might be full. This is an online, interactive workshop on May 30, 2024 from 8:45am-12pm ET. Participants will use Zoom to join with both video and audio. This workshop is sponsored by The Region IV Public Health Training Center.

Training Overview
Research suggests that a multitude of social and environmental factors such as education level, neighborhood of residence, and socioeconomic status are all strong predictors of a person’s health outcomes. Further, research suggests that a person’s race, sex, gender, and or sexual orientation can make them targets of discrimination, violence and inadequate health care.

This workshop is designed to help public health professionals better understand these determinants of health so that they may best serve their communities. Participants will be asked to reflect honestly upon their workplace practices focusing on how such practices may potentially exacerbate health inequity. Participants will further be asked to work with the trainer to identify areas for growth within their work environments.

The workshop will rely on the Human Impact Partners recommendations and the National Standard for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services. Based on these documents and the existing research, workshop participants will explore possibilities for improving their programs’ print and digital media, community assessments, and internal operations to best meet the cultural needs of the communities they serve. Participants will leave this workshop better equipped to carry out the health equity goals of their health departments.  

About the Trainer
Katie L. Acosta is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology at Georgia State University. Her research centers the intersections of gender, sexuality, Latinx Studies, race/ethnicity, family, and immigration. She is the author of two books: Amigas y Amantes: Sexually Nonconforming Latinas Negotiate Family and Queer Stepfamilies: The Path to Social and Legal Recognition. In addition, her work appears in the Journal of Family Theory & Review, Family Relations, Sexualities, Journal of Homosexuality, Sexualities Research and Social Policy, Gender & Society and various edited volumes. Her most recent research explores the experiences of Central American and Mexican asylum seekers and the ways asylum politics shape race and ethnic ties among various disadvantaged racially minoritized groups in Atlanta.

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 $4,404,138.  The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.