Poverty's Intersection With Health Equity: Lessons From Martin Luther King, Jr.
The icon of the Civil Rights Movement left behind a legacy that renews our inspiration to improve health equity.
By leaning into our collective mission, and by understanding how care ecosystems are changing, we are finding better ways to address COVID-19 and SDOH.
Like many others, we at Activate Care are intensely focused on COVID-19. And as this virus impacts society in new and unexpected ways, our first concerns are for everyone’s health and safety.
Our worst fears are for those closest to us. We’re worried about our own health and protecting our families. And we’re increasingly concerned with the well-being of those we tend to interact with every day - our coworkers, customers, friends, and neighbors. In my family, we have made a point to think often of those impacted all around the world - especially emergency responders.
As the crisis continues, many of us face other fears. Fears focused on how we’ll get through this time, and on what the future will look like. Many among us don’t have the luxury of privilege that allows us to engage in safe social distancing, sheltering in place, and remote working. But life must go on - and for those of us who work with vulnerable and at-risk populations, we understand that now more than ever, it is imperative that our health and social care systems work together to help people survive, and to help people remember to feel hope for the future.
Join Our SDOH MasterClass - Free Webinar Series
At Activate Care, I’ve seen more collaboration, sharing, and support across our team than ever before. My colleague Matt Goudreau recently published a blog about different ways you can leverage our platform and services during this time. As a 30+ year veteran of emergency services, his perspective has helped communities in New England and the Midwest respond to the COVID-19 crisis. I look forward to learning more from Matt in his upcoming SDOH MasterClass webinars on COVID-19 on Tuesday, March 31st and Wednesday, April 1st. I also invite you to explore our COVID-19 Response Platform focused on helping you lead during the crisis. It’s free for 60 days - learn more here.
Matt and the other experts on our team have been studying how organizations and communities are delivering care in the face of coronavirus. Care that is person-centered, authentic, multidisciplinary, and innovative. By leaning into our collective mission to care, by listening to our customers and stakeholders, and by understanding how care ecosystems are changing, we are finding better ways to address COVID-19 and SDOH.
COVID-19 has already accelerated big shifts in how we deliver healthcare in America. Remote monitoring, telemedicine and virtual care, coordination across systems, incorporation of social services into healthcare, rapid development of new medical devices and therapies: I look at these changes and see evidence of humanity’s response to a crisis, and our collective ability to imagine a better future.
Change is coming at us fast. Together we will find ways to emerge from this crisis stronger. For inspiration, I am looking at the communities across the country that are acting differently to achieve better health outcomes, that last.
