How do you make an entire city healthy?
The definition of “population health” is actually very simple. How do you make an entire group of people, an entire city, an entire region – as healthy as possible? When you walk through the halls of our hospital, there’s definitely something palpable about the dedication of the staff , from the physicians to the registration folks, to the environmental service workers. I guess it really comes down to love for the people and the work that we do. The clinical work that I do and my research focuses on this concept of social determinants of health. Where a child eats, sleeps, plays, and goes to school, as well as environmental factors, drastically and profoundly impact health outcomes. Kids that grow up in poverty are more at risk for obesity, for asthma, for diabetes, for learning issues, and for mental health issues. We are addressing those root issues and thus improving patient population health. I think what we are actually trying to achieve is how to actually be able to give everyone a chance to reach their potential.
(Children’s Handprints, www.childrenshospitaloakland.com, Long, 2017)