Health Equity
As neurologists and future leaders of our field, we should be acutely aware of the structural and socioeconomic disadvantages that have led to health disparities in our community. In neurology alone, disparities exist in access, utilization, and treatment which then translates to worse clinical outcomes in stroke, movement disorders, and MS, among others. The reasons for these disparities are complex and multifactorial, but increasing provider awareness and modifying provider behaviors can impact these outcomes on an individual patient level. With the right knowledge, tools, and resources, we can then advocate for policy and system-level changes that can create a larger downstream impact on our patients’ care.
History of the South Side
by Dr. Dorianne Miller
Health Disparities in Stroke: Academic and Community Perspectives
by Dr. Shyam Prabhakaran & Cedric Mckoy, APN
LGBTQIA+ Health in Neurology
by Dr. Daniel Kurz
The Neuropsychiatric Health of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Forcibly Displaced People: Our Roles as Neurologists and Advocates
by Dr. Altaf Saadi
Achieving Equity and Justice in Neurology
by Dr. Nicte Mejia
Community Champions Lecture Series (access via VPN or Citrix)
- History of Chicago’s South Side – Dr. Doriane Miller
- Finding Personal Meaning in Research and Action to Advance Health Equity – Dr. Marshall Chin
- Creating an Inclusive Environment – Veronica Hernandez and Joel Jackson
- Community Health Transformation – Brenda Battle
- Navigating Food Deserts, Swamps, and Racial Health Disparities in Chicago – Edwin McDonald, MD
The Maclean Center for Ethics Annual Conference
Articles
Racial disparities in neurologic health care access and utilization in the United States, Altaf Saadi, MD, David U. Himmelstein, MD, Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, and Nicte I. Mejia, MD, MPH
June 2017
Inequities in neurology amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic
LaShyra Nolen & Nicte I. Mejia
January 2021
Editorial: Disparities in neurological care: time to act on inequalities
The Lancet Neurology
August 2020
Books
The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation
by Natalie Moore
Medical Apartheid
by Harriet A. Washington
The Warmth of Other Suns
by Isabel Wilkerson
Chicago Street Medicine (Contact: Saara- Anne Azizi sazizi@uchicago.edu)
- A group of med students, residents and attendings that go out into the South Side to deliver resources and medical outreach to communities experiencing homelessness. Street runs and outreach events occur 2-4 times per month. Reach out to Saara-Anne to sign up!
Memory Center Programs (Contact: Tessa McEwen Tessa.McEwen@uchicagomedicine.org)
- “Art Is…In Therapeutics|” – volunteers needed to make art packets for seniors with dementia
- SHARE Network Chicago Partner – speakers needed for memory health, stroke and other
- Dementia Friendly Hyde Park
- Storytelling Project
Stroke Community Outreach (contact: Cedric McKoy Cedric.McKoy@uchospitals.edu)
Provident Outpatient Clinic (contact: Dr. Kenneth Lee klee7@neurology.bsd.uchicago.edu)
UCMC GME Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Events
UCMC GME Community Champions (access via VPN or Citrix)
- Community Champions is a unique offering from Graduate Medical Education in collaboration with the Urban Health Initiative. This program offered to PGY2+ residents and fellows allows for collaboration, mentorship, and leadership opportunities through program and project development. Recognizing the healthcare disparities impacting Chicago’s South Side community, it is our hope that through community engagement, more residents and fellows will seek opportunities and choose to work on Chicago’s South Side after completing training. Projects during the inaugural cohort focused around COVID-19, including the vaccines and the South Side community.