Importance of place for health, policy strategies for health equity to be topic of Catlin lecture, March 27

March 14, 2018

Brian D. Smedley, co-founder and Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, a project that connects research, policy analysis, and communications with on-the-ground activism to advance health equity, will present the 2017-18 Robert A. Catlin Memorial Lecture “Place, Race, and Power: Advancing Health Equity in New Jersey and Nationally,” on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. A light reception will follow the lecture.

To watch the video of this event, please click here.

Residential segregation is a powerful root cause of racial and ethnic health inequities because it concentrates health risks in communities of color while limiting access to health-enhancing resources. This talk will review research on the importance of place for health, and discuss policy strategies that can improve equity. In particular, Dr. Smedley will offer a preview of the Health Opportunity and Equity Measures, which offer state-level rankings of health and the major drivers of health equity. It will also focus on how patterns of residential segregation reinforce health inequities, and both place- and people-
based strategies to counter the effects of segregation.

In his role as co-founder and Executive Director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, Dr. Smedley oversees several initiatives designed to improve opportunities for good health for people of color and undo the health consequences of racism. From 2008 to 2014, Dr. Smedley was Vice President and Director of the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC, a research and policy organization focused on addressing the needs of communities of color. His areas of expertise include racism and health inequities, social determinants of health, health care disparities, and diversity in health professions

  • 1.5 AICP CM credits.
  • An application has been submitted to award Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES) and/or Master Certified Health Education Specialists (MCHES) up to 1.0 total Category I Continuing Education Contact Hours (CECH). Participants who complete this educational program will be awarded 1.0 NJ Public Health Continuing Education Contact Hours (CEs). The Rutgers School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Workforce Development is a designated multiple event provider of CECHs by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing and has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Health as a provider of NJ Public Health Continuing Education Contact Hours (CEs).

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The Robert A. Catlin Memorial Lecture honors the legacy of Robert A. Catlin, Bloustein School professor, who died in July 2004. Catlin began his career as a staff planner for governmental agencies and community organizations in several cities, including Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York. He also served as dean of the College of Social Science at Florida Atlantic University, dean of the Camden College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers, and provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Bakersfield. He was inducted as an AICP Fellow in 2001. At the Bloustein School, he specialized in urban revitalization and the impact of race in public policy decision-making.

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