Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114432

Linda D. Mack Burch, MPH¹, Geraldine Oliva, MD, MPH², Virginia Smyly, MPH, CHES³, Jennifer Rienks, PhD(c)⁴, Sandra Johnson, BS³, Judith A. Belfiori, MA, MPH⁵, and Kevan Leonard Carter⁶. (1) Family Health Outcomes Project, Depart. of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 365, San Francisco, CA 94118, 415-502-6191, lmburch@itsa.ucsf.edu, (2) Family Health Outcomes Project, Dept. of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California St, Suite 365, San Francisco, CA 94118, (3) San Francisco Department of Public Health, Community Health Promotion & Prevention, 30 Van Ness Ave, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94102, (4) Family Health Outcomes Project, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street Suite 365, San Francisco, CA 94118, (5) Family Health Outcomes Project, Dept of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street Suite 365, San Francisco, CA 94118, (6) Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, 800 Presidio Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94115

The SevenPrinciples (7P) project, inspired by the 7P of KWANZAA and funded by CDC to eliminate disparities in African American (AA) infant mortality in San Francisco, targets institutional racism. A series of two and a half day workshops on Undoing Racism targeting health and social service agencies serving AA were conducted. The workshops were facilitated by an independent organization experienced in anti racism training. Participants completed post workshop questionnaires. Follow-up meetings and open-ended interviews were conducted to determine the longer- term impact of the workshops. Six workshops reached over 200 participants. Immediate post workshop evaluations reveal over 80% of participants rated the workshops highly and 90% agreed to take action to reduce the effects of institutional racism. During participant follow-up meetings attendees revealed that they were significantly impacted personally by the workshops. Interviews with workshop participants, including a number representing a large family support agency employing over 300 staff, a community service center and an organization serving homeless pregnant women, revealed that the agencies had adopted new practices to improve their organizational cultural competency and decrease institutional racism. The community service center took the initiative to form a Community Action Team through a mini-grant from the project as a way to continue the momentum and expand the impact of the Undoing Racism workshops. Its first product was a Declaration of Prenatal Care Rights for AA Women. This presentation will discuss and describe in more detail individual or institutional changes and attempts to remedy racism in the workplace or community.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• Describe innovative culturally specific approaches to eliminating African American infant health disparities in San Francisco
• Describe the evaluation methodology and findings of the Undoing Racism workshops and the impact on health and social service agencies 4)Learn about the challenges and opportunities individuals and organizations encountered in eliminating racial health disparities in the workplace and community

Keywords: Infant Health, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.