Equity and Public Health in Trenton and Philadelphia

Course Details

Consider two predominantly Black communities — one in Trenton, one in Philadelphia — that are at a crossroad of poverty and change. Both partnered with local medical institutions (Capital Health and Jefferson Health, respectively) to address public health crises while undergoing much-needed neighborhood planning.

Presenters share a story of urban poverty and inequity and how they are rewriting that narrative with healing and recovery. Learn how to engage non-conventional professionals to address planning issues; hospital administrators and frontline workers bring unique perspectives to the planning process that yield unorthodox outcomes.

The Capital Health/Trenton Health team describes how they are leveraging recent federal, place-based planning grants to invest in the North Trenton neighborhood. The five-year, $10 million Trenton Neighborhood Initiative is committed to improve housing, employment, and social and digital outcomes. Jefferson Health’s COVID-19 Mobile Unit offers targeted, human-centered care to vulnerable Philadelphia communities, based on a compact of trust among health care delivery experts, sponsors, and community partners.

Learning Outcomes

• Apply cultural competency and sensitivity when working in communities of color — particularly employing the empathy needed to truly listen and learn nuances of minority neighborhoods.
• Assess how social determinants of health in high-poverty neighborhoods – exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic toll — negatively impact daily life.
• Compare two neighborhoods in transition and the lessons they and their respective medical-institution anchors can learn from each other.