More Than Health Care: A Community Health Conversation

Be inspired by Victor Murry and Carter Wilson from the Camden Coalition. What happens if you connect community partners around high-needs individuals? The answer: Better health outcomes. Listen for ideas on how to start connecting dots to provide complex care in your community.

Be inspired by Professor Dominic Mac of the Morehouse School of Medicine as he describes the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network's purpose and the power that partnerships have in the fight for health equity amid the pandemic.

Be inspired by measurable change. Hear how Better Futures Minnesota achieved a 4-6% recidivism rate, or the rate in which individuals return to incarceration, with their clients vs. their county’s recidivism rate of 68%.

In this episode, host Jill Huynh recalls her most memorable episodes from 2020—a year she says was, “like no other.” These episodes resonated with her because of how they coincided with her work or personal life and others because of the compelling work being done.

Be inspired by a model that puts customers first with a highly collaborative partnership approach.

How Do You Measure Child Well-Being?

Be inspired to partner with academics and mathematicians to prove the work you do matters.

Be inspired by how having an entrepreneurial spirit allows a 140-year-old organization to continue to evolve in order to serve. ‘We will not move the needle on these stubborn disparities in our community by only partnering with the nonprofit down the street. It is going to take a cross-sector partnership.’ https://pillsburyunited.org/

Be inspired by collaborations happening across the country. Hear from Sophia Raday of the Nonprofit Finance Fund on what happens when organizations are open to sharing data, trust and back offices. https://nff.org/

Be inspired by Hector Colon, president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, and the innovative steps he took to turn around a struggling organization. They went from being in the red—losing more than $10 million—to a thriving organization in the black.

Be inspired by your own power. Be encouraged by Vu Le to stop the B.S. and see the power of the nonprofit sector. Get concrete examples of changes you can do today to even the playing field.  https://nonprofitaf.com/

Be inspired by Hawaii. When you are literally on an island, innovation and actively listening to partners must be a part of your strategy. [Themes: Healthy Thriving Futures approach: Help Hawaii’s families to address serious life challenges such as poverty, abuse, and neglect. Child & Family Service has adapted proven practice and intervention models to meet the needs of Hawaii’s multicultural communities.]

Be inspired by all the social factors, conversations, data, and logistics that go into an innovative public transit provider with Lauren Day of IndyGo.

Be inspired by your own power. Be encouraged by Vu Le to stop the B.S. and see the power of the nonprofit sector. Get concrete examples of changes you can do today to even the playing field. https://nonprofitaf.com/

Be inspired by a 20,000 square foot neighborhood grocery store has become the crossroads of health, wellness, employement and community development in Minnesota. https://pillsburyunited.org/

Be inspired by how having an entrepreneurial spirit allows a 140-year-old organization to continue to evolve in order to serve. ‘We will not move the needle on these stubborn disparities in our community by only partnering with the nonprofit down the street. It is going to take a cross-sector partnership.’ https://pillsburyunited.org/

Be inspired to honor differences. Listen to the learnings from a social service organization and hospital that formally merged. Hint: You cannot hold a 30-minute meeting in the ER. [Themes: Opportunities through partnership with hospital systems to do more work in prevention with families and patients. Strategies for bridging health care and social service cultures.]

Be inspired by Dr. Bob Shapiro, director of the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and how his team has quickly innovated to create tools and guides for community members, such as schools and daycares, to help keep kids safe in their homes. In the wake of COVID-19, his team is showing ‘how barriers really don't need to be barriers.

Starting with the aim to tackle root causes of chronic disease in communities, BUILD Health Challenge launched their first cohort in 2015. Today, they are supporting work in 37 communities within 21 different states including the Washington D.C. Celebrating innovation and creativity, cohort members are tacking complex health issues in unique ways that are accomplishing solid results. Join us as we talk with Emily about her company’s continued journey to learn alongside the community.

We are under-invested within the social services sector and have been for a very long time. Since the health/medical sector is well supported financially, decision making power often lies with them.  Angela challenges us to get innovative and creative and do things differently to create a new future for our sector and better outcomes for those we serve.  You will be inspired and motivated to move mountains after listening to this!

Be inspired by what can happen when you embed a mental health team inside the school. Hear Marisa Perez-Martin’s 18 year journey uncovering authentic partnerships and building a school-based model that is demonstrating outcomes for students.

Be inspired to reframe what a senior center can look like. Hear how Jane Bavineau, vice president of health and wellness at BakerRipley, is listening to ‘modern elders’ and their caregivers in Hoursont to reimagine senior centers, including their own version of NPR Story Corps and a community garden.

Be inspired by the opportunities all around you. Hear Terri Howard, director of business development at FEI Behavioral Health, talk about what the FBI is doing to encourage both physically and mentally healthy employees.

Be inspired by the strategic shift that happened when the voice of the customer was heard. Hear Melissa Benton, community development officer at John Boner Neighborhood Centers, talk about the evolution that occurred within their services when they went into the community to hear its needs.

Be inspired by what academics can bring to the conversation to move innovation forward. Hear Latrice Rollins, professor at Morehouse School of Medicine, speak about her work, illustrating the power dads with the right resources to positively transform their kid’s, their family’s, and their community’s trajectory.

Be inspired by how casual community relationships have built a new approach to opidoid emergencies in a New York community.  Hear Saarah Waleed share how Villa Hope started as a substance use disorder clinic and expanded to wrap around services that include mental health and referrals directly from the emergency department.

In this new mini-episode, cohosts Jill Huynh and Tim Johnstone join the More Than Health Care podcast producer, Erin Keltner, in reflecting on their favorite topics and takeaways from the 2019 episodes and give a preview of upcoming new episodes in 2020.  

Our nonprofit sector is very fragmented today. As a result, our sector is not widely viewed as a valuable resource to lead change in our community systems. We are therefore banished to the “kids’ table” and are not part of the important conversations and decision making. This episode discusses ways human services organizations can begin changing our trajectory to truly support those we serve in a big way.  

Jim Mason tells the story of Beech Acres Parenting Center’s journey from being a 19th-century orphanage to operating as a 21st-century parenting center that invests in innovation and partners closely with health care entities to provide holistic and systemic supports to parents, kids, and families. Learn why Beech Acres believes it is critical to serve the whole child and whole family within the context of their community ecosystem.

Be inspired to find your own power and harmony. Hear how Deanna Singh found her purpose early, and used it to unify a variety of passions under a foundation ‘run’ by her children. [Themes: Many connections of different social enterprises to social determinants of health. Helping people and organizations build bridges when there's a power differential between them.]

Be inspired by teamwork. When the team includes dreamers and dooers, crisis management comes through an iPad to rural foster care families and a college campus is transformed. [Themes: innovative work on ground-level with continuum of care services (what does it really look like to apply innovative practice)]

Be inspired to honor differences. Listen to the learnings from a social service organization and hospital that formally merged. Hint: You cannot hold a 30-minute meeting in the ER. [Themes: Opportunities through partnership with hospital systems to do more work in prevention with families and patients. Strategies for bridging health care and social service cultures.]

Be inspired by Hawaii. When you are literally on an island, innovation and actively listening to partners must be a part of your strategy. [Themes: Healthy Thriving Futures approach: Help Hawaii’s families to address serious life challenges such as poverty, abuse, and neglect. Child & Family Service has adapted proven practice and intervention models to meet the needs of Hawaii’s multicultural communities.]

Be inspired to expand your job description. Hear what happens when you bring trauma-informed care to the police force. For a community in Maryland, it has deescalated more incidents and provided better care for residents in mental health crises. [Themes: Collaboration between the social sector and law enforcement to incorporate social determinants of health and trauma-informed approach to emergency/crisis policing.]

Collaborative Consulting is a small, boutique consulting firm working at the intersection of the health care sector and the social sector. From promoting cross-sector partnerships to defining strategy, Lori Peterson and her team are driven to encourage nonprofit organizations to tweak their current service delivery models to ensure more integration between health and social services sectors. Listen for case studies and takeaways to apply to your work. 

CUPS is an organization located in Calgary, Canada, whose vision is that Calgarians overcome adversity, reach their potential, and end the cycle for poverty and trauma for themselves and their families. This episode explores how this organization designed all its programs around brain science. From health education to housing, CUPS is truly promoting wellness for its community.  

Janet Waters is one of 10 “encore fellows” across the US challenged with testing, trying, and learning about what it takes to engage folks who are over 50 years of age in volunteer and paid positions in the social sector. Not only do those served by these individuals benefit from their wisdom and compassion, but the 50+-somethings also enjoy the benefit of purpose. The value of purpose in our lives has direct connections with health and wellness. Learn about Ascentria Care Alliance’s journey in this area and the difference being made in people’s lives as a result.  

Organizations looking to support population health management shouldn’t forget to look internally at their own workforces. Learn about Marathon Health and the unique ways it supports its employees. From city mayor in Rockford, Illinois, to his current work at Marathon Health, Larry Morrissey uncovers interesting insights about systems of support in our communities.

 This episode takes a deeper look at a demonstration project in New Hampshire that is leveraging the Medicaid 1115 waiver to transform the way services are delivered to Medicaid recipients. By hiring culturally sensitive and relatable staff to provide home health care services, this programming is supporting refugees in trusting and engaging with health care services.

This UnitedHealthcare program has a significant national footprint, serving over 6.8 million people in the U.S. each year. States are looking to evolve Medicaid to increase value and address root causes of health issues for individuals within the network. Kevin Moore shares his belief that community-based human services organizations are great partners for health insurers to drive positive outcomes for individuals.

This UnitedHealthcare program has a significant national footprint, serving over 6.8 million people in the U.S. each year. States are looking to evolve Medicaid to increase value and address root causes of health issues for individuals within the network. Kevin Moore shares his belief that community-based human services organizations are great partners for health insurers to drive positive outcomes for individuals.

Our nonprofit sector is very fragmented today. As a result, our sector is not widely viewed as a valuable resource to lead change in our community systems. We are therefore banished to the “kids’ table” and are not part of the important conversations and decision making. This episode discusses ways human services organizations can begin changing our trajectory to truly support those we serve in a big way.

Jim Mason tells the story of Beech Acres Parenting Center’s journey from being a 19th-century orphanage to operating as a 21st-century parenting center that invests in innovation and partners closely with health care entities to provide holistic and systemic supports to parents, kids, and families. Learn why Beech Acres believes it is critical to serve the whole child and whole family within the context of their community ecosystem.

The social services sector is underinvested in and has been for a very long time. Since the health care/medical sector is well supported financially, decision-making power often lies with them. Angela Bovill inspires and challenges us to get innovative and creative and do things differently to create a new future for our sector and better outcomes for those we serve.  

Traditionally, 5 percent of the population drives 50 percent of the expenditures in health care and the biggest determinant of health is not what happens in primary care, but the environmental, economic, and behavioral factors in an individual’s life. Susan Dreyfus discusses her belief that health care reform is the biggest disruptive force in our field and sector today and why it’s time to “lean in.”

  Traditionally, 5 percent of the population drives 50 percent of the expenditures in health care and the biggest determinant of health is not what happens in primary care, but the environmental, economic, and behavioral factors in an individual’s life. Susan Dreyfus discusses her belief that health care reform is the biggest disruptive force in our field and sector today and why it’s time to “lean in.”   

With the goal to tackle root causes of chronic disease in communities, BUILD Health Challenge launched its first cohort in 2015. Today, it is supporting work in 37 communities within 21 different states including Washington D.C. Celebrating innovation and creativity, cohort members are tacking complex health issues in unique ways that are accomplishing solid results. This episode discusses BUILD Health Challenge’s continued journey to learn alongside its communities.

Brain science has taught us that a big way to impact health outcomes is by understanding people’s environments and life experiences.  These factors affect how people function and help themselves get ahead. They also impact how our bodies respond throughout the lifespan. Learn about the work Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) is doing in a Boston neighborhood where a half mile means a 28-year difference in lifespan.

Cohosts Jill Huynh and Tim Johnstone set the stage for the More than Health Care podcast. They introduce themselves and preview the guests and topics to come, which include best practices, policy, and opportunities for integration and innovation.