Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Advocacy and Lobbying: Considerations for Non-Profit Organizations (Event)

In order for us to make public health change we must advocate. We have to advocate for the conditions that make people healthy. I often hear government employees, public health workers, and non for profit organizations say they can't advocate. That's not true. We can. We just have to follow a few rules. Here is your chance to learn how!

Please join MWPHA for a 90-minute session conducted by representatives from the American University Washington College of Law Community and Economic Development Clinic.  This is the second quarterly professional development training session brought to you by MWPHA. The presentation will discuss considerations for non-profit organizations  regarding lobbying and/or advocacy activities.

Thursday, April 18, 2013 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library, Second Floor Large Meeting Room
3310 Connecticut Avenue Northwest 
Washington, DC 20008

*CEUs not available for this event

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

2013 National Public Health Week



Dear Members and Friends

The first full week of April is designated as National Public Health Week (NPHW). The American Public Health Association sponsors the week. This year's theme is "Public Health is ROI: Save Lives, Save Money." 
 
 
Here are three ways you can get involved.

  • Attend an event. APHA has a great listing of NPHW events
  • Join the APHA Twitter chat on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 2 p.m. EDT. Follow the Hashtag: #NPHWchat
  • Take an advocacy action to support public health. Send a message to your member of Congress in support of public health

Stay Involved

  • Join the MWPHA Health Disparities Committee in support of their activities at Stoddert Terrace. They meet every 3rd Wednesday and go out to the community every 3rd Saturday.
  • Stay tuned for our next professional development event "Advocacy vs. Lobby: What's the Difference."
  • Save the date for the MWPHA and MdPHA Joint Annual Meeting on September 19, 2013
  • Become a member of MWPHA.
As always we welcome your suggestion to improve MWPHA.

Thank you,

Aisha L. Moore
MWPHA President

Monday, August 27, 2012

Collective Reflections on AIDS 2012: One Month Later - by Alana Black

Just one short month ago, thousands of scientists, policymakers, and activists--including a number of our very own MWPHA members--converged on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012). First held in 1985 in Atlanta, the once-annual and now-biennial meeting serves as a space for people in the global HIV/AIDS community to "assess where we are, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward." 


A scene from the Global Village. (Floyd Little, Sr.)

Personally, I wasn't even aware of the true significance of having AIDS 2012 here until right before the conference started. (Bear with me, I am a relative public health newbie. I'm sure a fair share of you already knew why having the conference here was a big deal. But in case you didn't....) At meetings of the MWPHA Health Disparities Committee and in the media alike, people were emphasizing that it was the first time the International AIDS Conference had been held in the United States in twenty-two years. Once or twice, I wondered to myself why it had been so long since the conference had come stateside. I figured that the International AIDS Society chose to rotate locales often. Or maybe potential host countries and cities had to competitively bid, like with the Olympics. It wasn't until I decided to take a look online that I realized that for years, HIV-positive individuals were barred from visiting or immigrating to the United States, and that the ban had only been lifted officially in January 2010.

If I hadn't been hyped for AIDS 2012 before, I was then. Until my job called me away to go to another conference out of town for the bulk of that week. Sadly, I didn't get to squeeze in much more than a cursory lap around the Global Village--which was amazing, to say the least--before I left for my work trip. However, Karyn Pomerantz, chair of the MWPHA Health Disparities Committee, collected some committee members' impressions of AIDS 2012 at the August meeting that I will share below in a list.

According to Karyn, most AIDS 2012 participants at the Health Disparities meeting and those who had emailed her felt that the conference inspired them to become more active and introduced them to global issues. Other positive feedback focused on the following:
  • Opportunities to learn from people from different countries and organizations represented in the Global Village and to participate in developing a skit about a mother and daughter with AIDS
  • Great interactions between local and global groups
  • The diversity and energy of the We Can End AIDS mobilization on July 24thdefinitely a highlight for many MWPHA members; for example, one dressed as "Serena Syringe" attracted media to deliver her message on needle exchange
  • Demonstrations at the conference directed at pharma, DC government, Global Fund

Individuals had criticism of AIDS 2012, as well:
  • Many workshops were too basic
  • Harm reduction does not address the need to prevent the conditions that lead to drug use or sex work.  More attention needed for harm prevention and elimination.
  • In every transmission category, African, African American and other people of color bear the disproportionate burden of HIV, yet the conference did not mobilize people around fighting racism
  • The conference was dishonest pushing the line that AIDS could end with just treatment instead of creating structural change and increasing funding.
  • Many speakers proclaimed that we are ‘in the home stretch’ in ending AIDS, which is not true.  Over 26 million people need ARV medication while the goal is to add 8 million more people on meds. Pharma is fighting to keep drug prices high, and the United States supports damaging trade policies. 
  •  Concerns about the Global Fund’s privatizing and reducing funding

Normally, when there is positive and then negative feedback, I prefer to mention the "bad" first, to get it out of the way. However, here, I don't think ending on a not-so-positive note is a downer, so to speak; instead, I think it gives us things to consider as individual public health workers and as an organization, especially those of us working in some way with HIV/AIDS.

Did you go to AIDS 2012? What were your experiences? Please share in the comments section of this post!

(Thank you, Floyd Little, Sr., for providing the image used in this post!)





Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Flipping the Script on Stigma: Scenes from the June 23 MWPHA Workshop (Part II of II) - Alana Black and Charlotte Malerich

To read the first part of this article, please click here.

The first skit, called "The Coat," featured a protagonist in public housing who had recently come from a recovery program and whose social worker sent her off with medication but little other social support. At the end of the skit, this protagonist, Tanya, collapsed and died from heat stroke. Her neighbors didn't understand why she wore a winter coat on the hottest day of July, but instead of intervening, dismissed her as that "crazy lady."

Then it was time to flip the script: as the group began performing the skit again; as Tanya's social worker discharged her, spec-actors in the audience stopped the scene and had Tanya ask more questions about who would check up on her, and whom she could call for help. The "social worker" had to improvise her responses. She was nice, but honest that Tanya's insurance wouldn't cover home visits after a month. Then she gave Tanya a list of service providers she could call for help. Next, the group and spec-actors improvised a scene of Tanya calling down the list of these providers, looking for help with the side effects of her medicine. While Tanya was able to reach someone on the phone, the conversation that followed was not enough to help her get the help she needed. Andres reflected back to the audience that it is hard for many people to access social support, even if it does exist.

Over the afternoon, each group performed their skit, and then the spect-actors actively changed it. In one scene, about "Kerry," a woman who had begun to hear voices as a result of a traumatic brain injury, a doctor was challenged to treat her with more respect when the spec-actors added a supportive nurse character. In another scene, “Stacey,” a fourteen-year-old girl who was bullied at school and found solace in talking to people she didn’t know over the internet, found new support when the spect-actors added people in various parts of the scene (a concerned teacher, a concerned father), as well as suggesting to Stacey to reach out to her dad about her day at school. These proposed solutions changed the story so that “Stacey” was able to stay away from predators.

In yet another scene, “Sarah,” a woman who struggled with mental illness, was evicted due to a group of neighbors that were very judgmental and not understanding, yet when the spec-actors added a new neighbor, she was able to facilitate communication between “Sarah” and the other characters. In another scene, “Emily,” a foster teenager living with her grandmother and uncle, was able to avoid killing herself in the retake, at least temporarily, because the spect-actors added a classmate able to listen to her and help diffuse the tension by going for a walk.

Every participant had a different comfort level in speaking up to stop a scene and make changes, and in improvising new storylines. But, in the small-group debriefing sessions that followed, all the participants had a chance to say what they had learned through the exercise, and how they thought that, individually and collectively, we can deal with stigma. When all the participants came together again, the conversation centered on how to take what we experienced today and use it in real life. Participants saw that not only professional service providers, but neighbors, friends, and family are crucial in person's mental health. Listening, and offering a supportive word or presence, went a long way in helping our protagonists face oppression. We also saw that making one small change didn't necessarily solve the problem, because the actors and spec-actors didn't idealize human beings or social structures. Stigma, oppression, and discrimination can't be eliminated all at once.

In the past year, the Health Disparities Committee has committed to addressing stigma and discrimination through workshops like this, to build solidarity and relationships across the stigmatizing characteristics and conditions that keep our community divided.  Incorporating the spirit of social movements like Occupy Wall Street and Occupy DC, the committee explains how stigma divides members of the 99%, weakening our ability to organize and challenge the 1% for the resources we all need to be healthy and happy.



The day closed with three speakers actively involved in that ongoing battle: Wallace Kirby of the PEERS Coalition, a group of formerly incarcerated activists and their allies who work to change the criminal justice system's treatment of people with mental illness; Gail Avent, founder of Total Family Care Coalition, an advocacy group that helps families in the DC area access community services and resources; and Michelle Beadle-Holder of the MWPHA Health Disparities Committee, who encouraged anyone interested to join the committee and help plan events like this, and in particular to join us for the We Can End AIDS Mobilization on July 24. Each speaker shared some of their personal story that led them to become activists and community organizers. The day closed out with one final improv exercise in which participants were asked to yell out some of the emotions that came up during the workshop: hope, freedom, courage, stress, pain, creativity, frustration, peace, anger, and love. Then five volunteers created a repetitive sound and movement in response to one of the emotions they heard being shouted. They continued this for a few seconds to playback these feelings back to the participants.

As participants said their goodbyes, it was obvious how well the workshop had brought people together. People who had never met hugged and exchanged phone numbers and email addresses, and thanked the facilitators and especially Andres for an amazing experience.

If you want to learn more about this workshop, or are interested in having a workshop created for your organization, feel free to contact Andres at Andres@prometheancommunity.com

Special thanks to Andres Marquez-Lara and Karyn Pomerantz for their edits and contributions to this article.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Flipping the Script on Stigma: Scenes from the June 23 MWPHA Workshop - Alana Black and Charlotte Malerich


When someone says the word "theater," what comes to your mind? Entertainment? An escape from reality? An unfolding story that, no matter how intriguing it may be, you can only watch?

Though theater played a key role in the MWPHA workshop held on June 23, the event was about as far from a passive, reality-eschewing experience as it could possibly be…though it was entertaining at times!

Entitled “Flip the Script on Stigma and Mental Illness: End the Prejudice and Discrimination,” the workshop was a collaboration between the MWPHA and two other organizations: Promethean Community, which utilizes theater techniques to help community members find new ways to relate to each other, and the Stoddert Terrace–Fort Dupont Residents’ Council, which is composed of representatives from two public housing complexes in the District and focuses on residents’ rights and collective well-being. The workshop was held at the complexes’ shared community center.



The event opened with a greeting from Kenneth Council, president of the Residents’ Council, followed by remarks from Andres Marquez-Lara, founder and president of Promethean Community. Kenneth welcomed the community members and public health workers alike who had showed up that morning, and Andres described the rules and the agenda of the workshop, which were heavily influenced by “theater of the oppressed” (TO).

Originally developed by theater practitioner Augusto Boal and based on the research of educator Paulo Freire, theater of the oppressed lets members of a community use theater as a way to promote social action and change. While there are various techniques within TO, the June 23 workshop was inspired by forum theater, a technique where a performance that depicts an oppressive situation is performed in front of an audience, called “spect-actors”. After the first performance, the scene is performed again, but this time the scene can be changed by the spect-actors. If they choose not to change the performance, the scene goes to its natural tragic ending. If they choose to change it, all they have to do is yell “Stop!” and suggest a new course of action for the protagonist, or insert a supportive element in the scene. The spect-actors cannot do away with the oppressive elements, but they can help the protagonist navigate them. The proposed changes must be realistic.

To get comfortable with each other and to mentally prepare for the day ahead, participants took part in a series of icebreakers. First, Andres had everyone pair up and play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Whoever won the best two out of three in each pair went on to challenge the winner of another pair, as would be expected. However, in a twist, the loser of each pair was to become “the biggest fan of the winner,” and they would follow the winner of their individual pair as his or her cheerleader. By the end of the icebreaker, there were only two competitors and a room full of fans divided evenly among the two. After the final victor was declared, everyone was united in cheering for the one winner; her success was shared by everyone.

Other icebreakers were more directly involved with stigma and mental illness. Andres had workshop participants line up along an imaginary spectrum gauging their comfort with public speaking, talking about mental illness, and willingness and confidence to interject when they observe discrimination and prejudice. Everyone placed themselves on different points of the spectrum depending on the question; no one was equally comfortable or uncomfortable with every situation mentioned. This allowed participants to see their relationship to others in the criteria that was being used.

The last icebreaker was especially introspective. Participants were encouraged to walk around the room in silence at whatever pace and in whatever direction appealed to them, and to think about how they thought about others in the room. They were then asked to consider the labels they assign to themselves, how they feel about those labels, which labels they want to keep, and which ones they want to cast away; to think of the labels they placed on the other participants in the room, and be mindful of their response to the labels they observed in others. Afterwards, everyone broke into threes to talk about thoughts that came to mind, sharing as much or as little as they were willing to.

Then, it was finally time to get to the scenes. Workshop participants were split into smaller groups based on birth month. Each group had one or two volunteer facilitators, who had met beforehand with Andres in three previous training sessions. The facilitators got the small groups comfortable with one another through an introduction warm-up, then each group got started coming up with a situation and characters for their five-minute skit, which would depict someone with a mental illness who encounters a problem because of stigma or prejudice. Once the group had a story and characters, they rehearsed until they felt it was ready to be performed in public.

Lunch time: over sandwiches and snacks, participants had time to relax and get to know each other better. After lunch, the room was reconfigured into an audience and floor space for the stage, and Andres asked which group wanted to perform first. Hands in the audience shot up eagerly.

Check back tomorrow evening to find out how the remainder of the workshop went!

Monday, December 12, 2011

MWPHA Partners with MPH Students in our Advocacy Efforts

For the past five years, MWPHA has supported MPH graduate students in the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services’ advocacy course. This year, the students were very successful in their efforts, with little to no help from other MWPHA members. (I say “other” MWPHA members because most have joined MWPHA as student members.)

Their Efforts

Get F.E.D. : Get Food Equality in DC focused on the implementation of the 2010 D.C. FEED Act. This act passed in 2010 aims to increase the options for fresh fruits and vegetables in the District’s food deserts. The team worked closely with ANC and the Ward 8 Farmers’ Market to continue this work. To learn more about their work, view the video from the GW Hatchet article.


Colonials for Clean Air: Colonials for Clean Air aims to change George Washington University's (GWU) smoking policy to protect the health of non-smokers. The goal of the project is for GWU to enforce a 25 foot smoke-free barrier around all campus buildings. Breathe DC granted the students $2300 for their efforts.


Good Samaritan Project: The goal of the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act is simply to prevent death from drug-related overdose. The team drafted and is working to pass the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act for DC. As it now stands in DC and in most states, people who dial 911, drop a friend off at a hospital, or otherwise try to get care for someone in the midst of a drug overdose are subject to prosecution for use and possession of drugs. We would like to thank the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service and the Public Service Grant Commission for funding their efforts to pass the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act in DC.


Save Lives Free the Condoms: From 2005- 2009 students worked to get CVS stores in DC to remove their condoms from behind counters, locked boxed, and noisy click boxes. This year the students focused on CVS stores in Prince Georges County and only 3 stores have not unlocked their condoms. In future years, we are going after a national CVS policy to keep condoms accessible for all. They worked with the Sexually Transmitted Infections Community Coalition, University of Maryland Prevention Research Center, and the Prince Georges County Health Department on this issue.


Get Involved

Next fall, we want to give them more support than ever before. Here is how you can help.

1. Share information from their websites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts with your community and colleagues. Doing so takes what starts out as a class project and helps turn it into a real community-based effort.

2. Suggest a local health issue they can advocate around and volunteer to be their community mentor. If you don’t have time, maybe you know or work with others who can be community mentors.

3. Give feedback on their project proposals. Some students will be new to the area and need the perspective of someone who has lived and worked in the region review their ideas.

4. Attend their events. The students send messages out via the listserv and they would appreciate your attendance.

5. Keep the project going through the spring and summer. While some of the students will continue working on the project, it is up to MWPHA members to keep the momentum going.

It’s very simple. We hope you will join us next year.

Thank you to Dr. Caroline Sparks and the GWU MPH students for your hard work and the continued partnership and support of MWPHA.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

World AIDS Day - Alana N. Black

As many of you already know, today is the 24th annual World AIDS Day. While a lot has improved in the last thirty years, with the development of effective medications and increased public awareness of the disease, we still have a long way to go, particularly in DC.

More than 3 percent of all DC residents over the age of twelve have HIV or AIDS, according to the DC Department of Health. As a result of HIV/AIDS-related illnesses and the associated stigma* of the disease, many of these individuals in our community often face blatant discrimination when seeking housing and employment.

Below are a few articles about the celebration of World AIDS Day this year, and about HIV/AIDS research and treatment in general. Feel free to add more in comments!

Local

National

International

*Also, speaking of stigma, stay tuned for more details about MWPHA's stigma workshop, to be held Saturday, January 21.