Letter to Michelle Obama& Chicago Mayor Oct25 '11

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Health Disparities and Health Equity: The Issue Is Justice

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Real food challenge workshop material

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Nadal fontiñas

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How to Build a Progressive Tea Part

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

PLACE MATTERS and Health Promotion

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Cook County Place Matters: Working Together for Health Equity

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Estimated Deaths Attributable to Social Factors in the United States

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Unnatural Causes Episode Five: Place Matters 'Why are zip codes and street ad...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

A presentation by Jim Bloyd, MPH, Cook County Place Matters Steering Committee, Cook County Dept. of Public Health, March 16, 2012, Good Food Festival and Conference, Chicago, University of Illinois Forum. Topics: evidence of health inequities; mixed evidence of neighborhood food environment and nutrition and health; Health Equity Framework of Anthony Iton; Power as a concept that must be considered to achievve health equity; Racial segregation in metro Chicago and resources.

Retail Food and Health: An Equity Framework

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

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Health Disparities and Health Equity: The Issue Is Justice

Real food challenge workshop material

Nadal fontiñas

How to Build a Progressive Tea Part

PLACE MATTERS and Health Promotion

Cook County Place Matters: Working Together for Health Equity

Estimated Deaths Attributable to Social Factors in the United States

Unnatural Causes Episode Five: Place Matters 'Why are zip codes and street ad...

Retail Food and Health: An Equity Framework

More from Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Qualitative methods are not intrinsically progressive. Methods are simply tools to conduct research. Epistemology, the justification of knowledge, shapes methodology and methods, and thus is a vital starting point for a critical health equity research stance, regardless of whether the methods are qualitative, quantitative, or mixed. In line with this premise, I address four themes in this commentary. First, I criticize the ubiquitous and uncritical use of the term health disparities in U.S. public health. Next, I advocate for the increased use of qualitative methodologies—namely, photovoice and critical ethnography— that, pursuant to critical approaches, prioritize dismantling social–structural inequities as a prerequisite to health equity. Thereafter, I discuss epistemological stance and its influence on all aspects of the research process. Finally, I highlight my critical discourse analysis HIV prevention research based on individual interviews and focus groups with Black men, as an example of a critical health equity research approach.

Towards a Critical Health Equity Research Stance: Why Epistemology and Method...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Links to Recommended Readings from June 4, 2020 presentation “Work With Organ...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

News article published May 30, 2020 "The senators’ letter follows the efforts of several health-justice advocates to implore the Illinois Department of Public Health to take a more active role in managing the outbreak in Pulaski County. Those individuals, which include representatives from the Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County and the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, Chicago-based health justice organizations, DePaul University and the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, are circulating a petition that demands IDPH make site visits to ICE detention sites across Illinois, and specifically the facility in Pulaski County, to ensure compliance with care plans and infectious disease control."

Senators call for investigation into Pulaski County jail amid COVID-19 outbreak

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

There has been a public outcry for the accountability of law enforcement agents who kill and injure citizens. Epidemiological surveillance can underscore the magnitude of morbidity and mortality of citizens at the hands of law enforcement. We used hospital outpatient and inpatient databases to conduct a retrospective analysis of legal interventions in Illinois between 2010 and 2015. We calculated injury and mortality rates based on demographics, spatial distribution, and cause of injury. During the study period, 8,384 patients were treated for injuries caused during contact with law enforcement personnel. Most were male, the mean age was 32.7, and those injured were disproportionately black. Nearly all patients were treated as outpatients, and those who were admitted to the hospital had a mean of length of stay of 6 days. Most patients were discharged home or to an acute or long-term care facility (83.7%). It is unclear if those discharged home or to a different medical facility were arrested, accidentally injured, injured when no crime was committed, or injured when a crime was committed. Surveillance of law enforcement-related injuries and deaths should be implemented, and injuries caused during legal interventions should be recognized as a public health issue rather than a criminal justice issue.

A 5-Year Retrospective Analysis of Legal Intervention Injuries and Mortality ...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Importance: US life expectancy has not kept pace with that of other wealthy countries and is now decreasing. Objective: To examine vital statistics and review the history of changes in US life expectancy and increasing mortality rates; and to identify potential contributing factors, drawing insights from current literature and an analysis of state-level trends. Evidence: Life expectancy data for 1959-2016 and cause-specific mortality rates for 1999-2017 were obtained from the US Mortality Database and CDC WONDER, respectively. The analysis focused on midlife deaths (ages 25-64 years), stratified by sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography (including the 50 states). Published research from January 1990 through August 2019 that examined relevant mortality trends and potential contributory factors was examined. Findings: Between 1959 and 2016, US life expectancy increased from 69.9 years to 78.9 years but declined for 3 consecutive years after 2014. The recent decrease in US life expectancy culminated a period of increasing cause-specific mortality among adults aged 25 to 64 years that began in the 1990s, ultimately producing an increase in all-cause mortality that began in 2010. During 2010-2017, midlife all-cause mortality rates increased from 328.5 deaths/100 000 to 348.2 deaths/100 000. By 2014, midlife mortality was increasing across all racial groups, caused by drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, suicides, and a diverse list of organ system diseases. The largest relative increases in midlife mortality rates occurred in New England (New Hampshire, 23.3%; Maine, 20.7%; Vermont, 19.9%) and the Ohio Valley (West Virginia, 23.0%; Ohio, 21.6%; Indiana, 14.8%; Kentucky, 14.7%). The increase in midlife mortality during 2010-2017 was associated with an estimated 33 307 excess US deaths, 32.8% of which occurred in 4 Ohio Valley states. Conclusions and Relevance: US life expectancy increased for most of the past 60 years, but the rate of increase slowed over time and life expectancy decreased after 2014. A major contributor has been an increase in mortality from specific causes (eg, drug overdoses, suicides, organ system diseases) among young and middle-aged adults of all racial groups, with an onset as early as the 1990s and with the largest relative increases occurring in the Ohio Valley and New England. The implications for public health and the economy are substantial, making it vital to understand the underlying causes.

Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates in the United States, 1959-2017

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

We trace the development of the concept of the corporate determinants of health. We argue that these determinants are predicated on the un- checked power of corporations and that the means by which corporations exert power is increasingly unseen. We identify four of the ways corporations influence health: defining the dominant narra- tive; setting the rules by which society, especially trade, oper- ates; commodifying knowledge; and undermining political, social, and economic rights. We identify how public health professionals can respond to these manifestations of power. (Am J Public Health. 2018;108: 1167–1170. doi:10.2105/AJPH. 2018.304510)

Revisiting the Corporate and Commercial Determinants of Health

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Public Health, Politics, and the Creation of Meaning: A Public Health of Cons...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Cook County Department of Public Health at APHA 2019

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Linda Rae Murray Voices From The Field transcript

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Exercise Linda Murray Voices of Public Health questions worksheet Used Septem...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Exercise Doak Bloss slide exerpt--For IPHA September 12, 2019 presentation

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Presentation and 3 20-minute exercises prepared for the annual conference of the Illinois Public Health Association, September 12, 2019 in Springfield, Illinois, USA. Abstract: The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) used the National Association of County and City Health Officials' online course for the public health workforce Roots of Health Inequity, to accomplish three goals: change the way staff think about public health; change the way staff practice public health; and apply health equity principles to the daily work. Chief Operating Officer Terry Mason, MD, required all staff to participate in the training. Increasing the integration of a health equity approach by first training staff on health equity and how it is relevant to their work was a priority of the agency strategic plan, as well as a QI and Workforce Development priority for CCDPH. Components of the CCDPH Roots of Health Inequity Dialogues include the creation of 1small groups for in-person discussion; a leadership committee; training staff as facilitators; evaluation; a commitment to dialogue. The small group-approach accomplished two things: dialogue and discussion were maximized, while disruption of regular duties and health department functions was minimized. Reliance on staff to facilitate dialogues strengthened leadership for health equity within the health department, and eliminated the need for external facilitation. In addition, the “insider” knowledge of the Facilitators—most of whom have years of experience working at CCDPH---ensured that dialogue leaders understood the institutional culture, and increased the likelihood that the dialogues will be able to examine real barriers as well as opportunities to practice transformation.

Roots of Health Inequity Dialogues: Designing Staff Development to Strengthen...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Selected References for Further Reading on Equity and Health

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Chicago Panels Details COOKED documentary Film July 12-25, 2019

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Wage theft is a threat to community health and well-being. Wage theft is a pu...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Growing evidence shows that unequal distribution of wealth and power across race, class, and gender produces the differences in living conditions that are “upstream” drivers of health inequalities. Health educators and other public health professionals, however, still develop interventions that focus mainly on “downstream” behavioral risks. Three factors explain the difficulty in translating this knowledge into practice. First, in their allegiance to the status quo, powerful elites often resist upstream policies and programs that redistribute wealth and power. Second, public health practice is often grounded in dominant biomedical and behavioral paradigms, and health departments also face legal and political limits on expanding their scope of activities. Finally, the evidence for the impact of upstream interventions is limited, in part because methodologies for evaluating upstream interventions are less developed. To illustrate strategies to overcome these obstacles, we profile recent campaigns in the United States to enact living wages, prevent mortgage foreclosures, and reduce exposure to air pollution. We then examine how health educators working in state and local health departments can transform their practice to contribute to campaigns that reallocate the wealth and power that shape the living conditions that determine health and health inequalities. We also consider health educators’ role in producing the evidence that can guide transformative expansion of upstream interventions to reduce health inequalities.

New approaches for moving upstream how state and local health departments can...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

A simple prescription would be to review the scientific evidence of what would make a difference, formulate policies, and implement them—evidence based policy making. Unfor- tunately this simple prescription, applied to real life, is simplistic. The relation between science and policy is more complicated. Scientific findings do not fall on blank minds that get made up as a result. Science engages with busy minds that have strong views about how things are and ought to be.

Editorial: Evidence based policy or policy based evidence? by Michael Marmot

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Objective. This article examines how epidemiological evidence is and should be used in the context of increasing concern for health equity and for social determinants of health. Method. A research literature on use of scientific evidence of “environmental risks” is outlined, and key issues compared with those that arise with respect to social determinants of health. Results. The issue sets are very similar. Both involve the choice of a standard of proof, and the corollary need to make value judgments about how to address uncertainty in the context of “the inevitability of being wrong,” at least some of the time, and to consider evidence from multiple kinds of research design. The nature of such value judgments and the need for methodological pluralism are incompletely understood. Conclusion. Responsible policy analysis and interpretation of scientific evidence require explicit consideration of the ethical issues involved in choosing a standard of proof. Because of the stakes involved, such choices often become contested political terrain. Comparative research on how those choices are made will be valuable.

Can health equity survive epidemiology? Standards of proof and social determi...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

The importance of public policy as a determinant of health is routinely acknowledged, but there remains a continuing absence of mainstream debate about the ways in which the politics, power and ideology, which underpin public policy influence people's health. This paper explores the possible reasons behind the absence of a politics of health and demonstrates how explicit acknowledgement of the political nature of health will lead to more effective health promotion strategy and policy, and to more realistic and evidence-based public health and health promotion practice

Towards a politics of health

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

Statement from the Red de Salud Colectiva of the Asociacion Latinoamericana de Medicina Social y Salud Colective (Latin American Association of Social Medicine and Collective Health) distributed February 1, 2019 on the ALAMES list serve by Oscar Feo Isturiz, physician, specialist in public health and occupational health, and retired professor at the University of Carabobo, Venezuela. He advises the Ministries of Health of El Salvador and Bolivia. He is on the Consultative Committee of ALAMES.

REDSACOL ALAMES ante la intromision imperial [REDSACOL ALAMES facing imperial...

Jim Bloyd, DrPH, MPH

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