Online Program

Oral

A growing body of research shows critical connections between economic opportunity, education, income, neighborhood features, childhood experiences, health, and a host of other factors. Making a community more resilient—and improving the health of its residents—requires tackling all of those factors. Single solutions, by themselves, won’t work. Investing in What Works for America’s Communities, a collection of essays from some of the nation’s leading experts—including U.S. Cabinet secretaries, scholars, and foundation leaders—calls on multiple sectors to work together to build more sustainable communities. In its 2014 recommendations, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America also called for cross-sector collaboration to improve health and opportunity. The Commission report points to “pockets of success” from around the country, including several from New Orleans, where life expectancy for babies born to mothers just a few miles apart can vary by as much as 25 years, high school graduation rates range from 64 to 98 percent, and child poverty rates range from 29 to 42 percent. Using examples from the conference host city and from across the country, panelists will provide an in-depth look at how cross-sector collaboration can improve community resiliency and health, with an emphasis on the role for public health leaders. They will explore: • Educare New Orleans, which opened its doors in October 2013 in one of the poorest areas of the city. Part of a national network of state-of-the-art, full-day, year-round schools, Educare provides at-risk children from birth to age 5 with comprehensive programs and instructional support to help them enter kindergarten on a par with children from middle-income families. • Purpose Built Communities, which has transformed New Orleans’ Bayou District from a crime-ridden neighborhood into a vibrant mixed-income residential community through holistic revitalization efforts. Purpose Built New Orleans is one of the largest urban transformation projects underway in the United States. • The Low Income Investment Fund’s ReFresh Project, which launched in New Orleans in May 2013. ReFresh is the first development in the nation to house healthy food retail options under the same roof with a broad range of organizations and programs designed to promote positive health outcomes. Although a major goal is to offer better food options, the partners recognized the need to anchor economic and community development. • New Orleans was recognized as a RWJF Culture of Health Prize winning city in 2013 for its progress in transforming its public health approach from one focused on direct clinical care for those without insurance to one that catalyzes the work of many sectors to address the root causes of poor health. This approach includes efforts to improve health eating and active living, assuring provision of high quality primary care, and revitalizing neighborhoods. Initiatives like these create educational achievement, raise incomes, and improve opportunities to make healthy decisions—critical components of a resilient community. Discussion will address: • How are social determinants of health like education and income linked to neighborhood revitalization? • Why is it essential for the public health sector to engage new partners to revitalize communities? • How did a national commission on health come to the conclusion that neighborhood revitalization is critical to improving health? • How do we replicate or scale up elements of promising models and programs elsewhere? Who should be at the table and why?