where there’s a will, we are the way
REACHUP REACHUP Moving Forward
"There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them." ~ Productivity Consultant Denis Waitley
Estrellita “Lo” Berry
Until recently, much of the emphasis on health has focused on health as the absence of disease. REACHUP, Inc. which has always focused on assets in the communities we serve, focuses on health as a state of complete physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being. Over the past 12 years, we have worked diligently to help our communities become and remain healthy. Our special emphasis has been on saving our babies, especially our Black babies who die over 2 times more often than White babies before their first birthdays.
In the early years of our work to save our babies, current research led us to put a great deal of focus on the quality and frequency of prenatal care. As we got more women into care in their first trimes- ter and worked with providers to provide culturally competent and compassionate care, the numbers of babies dying did not decrease as much as we had hoped.
Some of the sharpest hearts and minds in the maternal and child health field came to the conclusion that perhaps reducing inequities in birth outcomes and changing the health of the next generation depend on the health and socioeconomic status of preceding generations. This is called the Life Course Perspective and it helps us to see birth outcomes as the end product of not only the nine months of pregnancy but the protective and risk factors experienced by the mother, family and community across the entire life course.
So what protective and risk factors during the life course affect our health outcomes? Socioeconomic status, race and racism, health care, disease status, nutrition and weight status, birth weight and a range of other factors may affect our health outcomes, including birth outcomes. And this brings us to our focus on health equity. Although health equity may be a new idea for most people, it’s not hard to grasp. Health equity says that ideally everyone should have a fair opportunity to attain good health and that no one should be disadvantaged from achieving good health, if it can be avoided. If we want to save our babies, we have to make sure that everyone has a fair opportunity to attain good health.
We are not alone in our commitment to approaching our work from the perspective of health equity and the Life Course Model. All across the country we and our partners are coming to grips with the fact that health and illness are related to inequities in our society. Research shows that social conditions are as important to our health as our genes, our behaviors and even our medical care. For example, if you live in a community with parks and playgrounds, living wages, grocery stores that sell fresh and nutritious food, well maintained housing, and high quality public transit, you’re more likely to thrive. But if you live in a community with dilapidated hous- ing, few job opportunities, limited transportation, and very few high quality parks and grocery stores, you’re more likely to suffer from health problems like obesity, asthma, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
These conditions are called the social determinants of health. They are the economic and social conditions rather than individual behaviors that determine our health.
Health differences that arise from these social conditions result from decisions we make as a society – and can make differently. Dr. Adewale Troutman, Director of Public Health Practice and Leadership at USF, asserts that we have to both take personal inventory and build a social movement to bring us to health equity. REACHUP is committed to both. But we know that it will not happen without collaboration between community members, government, educational institutions, faith institutions, civic and nonprofit organizations, private business and health care organiza- tions all working together to change the lifestyle and social conditions that underlie our opportunities for health and wellbeing.
(813) 712-6300
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