Commissioner Choucair presenting on Healthy Chicago at the Gold Humanism Society Lori Ann Roscetti Annual Memorial Lecture on Ethical & Humanitarian Issues in Medicine at Rush University Medical Center
The reason we are all here today is to honor a very special young woman Lori Ann Roscetti. A young woman with a caring heart and bright future that died far too early. Like many of you I never had the chance to know Lori. However, I share her conviction and sincere interest of approaching the practice of medicine with a compassion.At this point, Dr. Choucair I believe you should share your story of what brought you to medicine back in Lebanon. (the one you shared at the All Staff meeting) I believe it will provide a compassionate opening to your remarks and sets up the social determinants of health piece at the opening of this presentation as well.
First I’ll provide a little background on the Healthy Chicago public health agenda. Then I will discuss our recent accomplishments and then I want to briefly discuss the importance of Partnerships and .
Let’s step back for a moment and take a closer look at health disparities.What are they and why do they exist?This definition is from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health-Reducing disparities is both a health and social justice issue– our history of colonization, slavery, segregation, and discrimination has affected access to health care and health status-Social justice is one of public health’s core values
Let’s step back for a moment and take a closer look at health disparities.What are they and why do they exist?This definition is from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health-Reducing disparities is both a health and social justice issue– our history of colonization, slavery, segregation, and discrimination has affected access to health care and health status-Social justice is one of public health’s core values
Let’s step back for a moment and take a closer look at health disparities.What are they and why do they exist?This definition is from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health-Reducing disparities is both a health and social justice issue– our history of colonization, slavery, segregation, and discrimination has affected access to health care and health status-Social justice is one of public health’s core values
For each Healthy Chicago priority area, we focus the most attention on closing the gap between those populations that are healthy and those that do not fare so well. Healthy environments are a very important focus of our strategies.We know that persons of lower SES are generally exposed to fewer factors that promote health and more factors that damage health. We strive to make healthy choices easier and more desirable for people who are most vulnerable.
Let’s step back for a moment and take a closer look at health disparities.What are they and why do they exist?This definition is from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health-Reducing disparities is both a health and social justice issue– our history of colonization, slavery, segregation, and discrimination has affected access to health care and health status-Social justice is one of public health’s core values
-Efforts to remedy social injustices have led to some of the biggest changes in health disparities-for example, food stamps, civil rights act, voting rights, and desegregation of medical facilities -- Food stamps improved nutrition of the low income population; birth outcomes were improved through food stamps for both blacks and whites -- The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights have had some of the largest impacts on health disparities. Led to declines in income disparities, increases in life expectancy, and decreases in mortality between black and white women --The desegregation of medical facilities was also very important in addressing health disparities. When desegregation was connected to Medicaid/Medicare funding, facilities complied. From 1965 to 1971, declines in the black infant mortality rate were dramatic, especially in the rural South. In Mississippi, for example,black postneonatal mortality fell 50 percent.--We hope that the Affordable Care Act will have an impact on health disparities, as well.
Data helps us decide which areas of the City our efforts should focus on in order to address health disparities and vulnerable populations.
First, tobacco.
Our most recent tobacco prevention victory was earlier this month when City Council voted 45 to 4 to ban e-cig use wherever traditional tobacco products are currently prohibited.
To enact bold, ground-breaking policy requires a strong voice coupled with compassion. The community town halls that led to our Menthol recommendations illustrated sentiments of humanism and compassion. People of all backgrounds and faith spoke loudly about the need to ban menthol flavored cigarettes so that our youth grow up to have healthy and productive lives.
The 50th anniversary of the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health was just this month. A new report– The Health Consequences of Smoking- 50 Years of Progress– emphasizes that smoking is still a huge public health issue. Chicago was specifically recognized, however, by Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for our work on smoking. We are consistently recognized as the nation’s leader in public health efforts on tobacco use.
Our efforts on obesity focus on making it easier to eat healthy foods and be physically active….
Brown helped Hughes contact Neighbor Capital, an organization that partners with Streetwise to put recently homeless or incarcerated people back to work.Hughes partnered with two nonprofit agencies and UIC staff to bring the cart to UIC after she learned that UI Hospital and its patients are located in one of the city’s largest food deserts — regions where stores selling fresh produce are scarce.Urban Global Health Excellence Award was presented to her recognition of outstanding service and dedication to urban and global health
Complete streets is about making Chicago streets safer for all users. We know safety is a critical consideration is the healthiest modes of transportation – biking and walking.
Chicago Streets for Cycling Plan 20202012 citywide network plan of 600 miles of bike facilities Safe and comfortable for all ChicagoansFocus on protected bike lanes and neighborhood greenways
Physicians in practice…. leading new initiatives and Azima contributed to environmental change.
More recent CPS data shows that obesity rates among CPS’s youngest students are decreasing. Over the past 10 years, obesity rates in kindergarten-aged students have dropped from 24% to 19.1%.In 2003, nearly one in four students was obese by the time they entered school. By 2012, that number had fallen to less than one in five. This means that over 1,000 children started the school year in 2012 at a healthier weight than they would have in 2003.And it is essential to note that this decline is being felt by all racial and ethnic groups, including African American and Hispanic children, who have historically had disproportionately high rates of obesity.
Physicians in Practice… working with adolescent groups such as our esteemed Chicago Mikva Challenge students to train future leaders….
Access to care is of course affected by health insurance. Populations more likely to be low-income such as Hispanic and NH Black have higher rates of uninsured, because most health insurance is through employers, so these groups primarily work without insurance benefits, or insurance was too costly for them.We think the Affordable Care Act will make a significant difference in the proportion of people, overall, without insurance.(506,371 total)
We are helping people enroll in health insurance through our Enroll Chicago! Program….As of November, 125,000 applications submitted to state for approval. Officials say the expansion will generate $468 million next year for the county’s health programs, reducing the burden on taxpayers.
Provide clinical support and go out to CAHSIC Community related to HIV.
In June 2013, the Illinois Department of Public Health amended the Illinois Administrative Code Section 693.130. The amendment allows minors 12 years of age or older who may have come into contact with a sexually transmitted infection (STI) give consent to medical care or counseling related to the diagnosis, treatment, or vaccination against an STI. This means that minors 12 years and older are now able to consent to vaccinations for HPV if they are seeking STI treatment.
Assessments to determine compliance two days a week.
On June 5, 2013, Chicago became one of the first U.S. cities to pass a comprehensive bed bug ordinance, which will go into effect on December 23, 2013University of IL Asthma grant $4M to test asthmas interventions – including home visits to address asthma triggers.
Pharmaceutical drop boxes are now available at all Chicago police stations to allow citywide accessibility for the proper disposal of expired and unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Since 2008, the drop boxes were located in just five police stations…
Another strategy of Healthy Chicago is to increase the availability of public health data through the City’s website.To that end, we now make use of the City’s Open Data Portal to push out frequent updates of indicator data related to births, deaths, infectious diseases, environmental health, hospital discharges, and public health assets.The way it works, we don’t provide any data directly to the Chicago Health Atlas website; the developers subscribe to our feed on the Data Portal, and can update their views with new data as it becomes available.
As National President of the American Medical Student Association, Dr. Bhatt shined a light on the pharmaceutical industry influence in medical education by developing the AMSA Scorecard. It ranks 126 Medical Schools according to their pharmaceutical influence policies. Here he is pictured with then Senator Obama.
1 of 22 health departments in the country accredited. This is an outstanding achievement for our department but our work has just begun. Being accredited means that we continue to strive to improve our work and to ensure we are always meeting PHAB standards.
These are the themes that have been very important in our work: Humanism, Compassion, Social and Behavioral Influences, and Environmental ChangesThe department aims to enable populations and communities to achieve optimal health – a balance of physical, mental, and social health – through social and behavioral change and the creation of environments that are conducive to healthy lifestylesDeep connection to the community.
In addition to our external partnerships, we also have developed a City-wide Interagency group that collaboratively works on improving the health of all Chicagoans.
Partnerships play an immensely important role in all of the Department’s work. We currently are actively engaged with hundreds of different organizations.
And the list just keeps growing…. In a time of limited resources at the local, state, and federal levels, partnerships are especially critical to keeping our work progressing.
And now you might be asking yourself how can I as doctor in training become a Partner with the Healthy Chicago mission too?You may do so by maximizing your role as a physician by influencing policy change.