Penn Medicine’s 11th Annual Health Equity Week

Description: Studies across health professions have documented that students feel inadequately prepared by their programs to care for LGBTQIA+ populations. This lack of training is mirrored in studies of patient experience, with LGBTQIA+ patients reporting negative experiences with health care providers and subsequent avoidance of care. This presentation shares findings from a 2025 study of Penn dental, nursing, and medical students examining their attitudes toward treating LGBTQIA+ patients and their sense of preparedness to do so. Results are compared with a similar 2014 assessment to explore changes over the past decade. The session will highlight effective teaching strategies across disciplines and identify opportunities to strengthen LGBTQIA+ health education moving forward.

Speakers: Kevin Kline, MD of LGBTQ+ Health at UPHS, Faculty Director of the Gender and Sexuality Curriculum in the Perelman School of Medicine within the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health

Event location: Zubrow Auditorium, Pennsylvania Hospital and Virtual

Hosted by: Pennsylvania Hospital

Learning Objectives:

• Compare three commonly used models for defining disability
• Apply these models to navigate discussions about disability in healthcare settings, with attention to both patient care and workplace inclusion
• Identify resources to deepen understanding of equitable care and disability inclusion

Event location: Smilow Auditorium and Virtual

Hosted by: Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA) featuring members of Disability Inclusion Taskforce

Speakers: Keynote – Aasta D. Mehta, MD, MPP Director of the Division of Reproductive, Adolescent, and Child Health Department of Public Health, City of Philadelphia

Keynote – Valerie Arkoosh, DHS Executive Leadership, Department of Human Services, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

In partnership with Penn PROMOTES, the Women’s Health Equity Symposium will offer travel awards to support attendees presenting their research at future academic conferences.

A total of $10,000 will be awarded across 2–3 recipients. To be eligible, applicants must have an active Penn affiliation and attend the symposium.

Application details will be shared during the event and in a follow-up email to registrants.

Event location: Smilow Auditorium and Virtual

Hosted by: Department of OBGYN, Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA), Amethist, Pregnancy and Perinatal Research Center, March of Dimes Research Center for Advancing Maternal Health Equity at the University of Pennsylvania

Description: An introduction to Joint Research Practices – who they are, what resources we offer, and how they can help, etc. Conducting research equitably can be challenging, and JRP is here to help.

Learning Objectives:

Hosted by: Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) Joint Research Practice

Description: Please join us for a lecture and discussion with LDI Senior Fellow Jason Schnittker, PhD, Professor of Sociology, on his book, Prisons and Health in the Age of Mass Incarceration, moderated by Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD. This work explores the complex and often contradictory relationship between incarceration and health in the United States, where more than two million people are currently behind bars. Drawing on extensive research, Prisons and Health in the Age of Mass Incarceration describes how incarceration shapes health outcomes not only for those who are confined but also for families, communities, and society at large.

This Penn Medicine Health Equity Week conversation will delve into the broader implications of mass incarceration for health equity and public health policy. Lunch will be provided.

Speakers:

• A Conversation with Jason Schnittker, PhD, Professor of Sociology, moderated by Rachel M. Werner, MD, PhD
  Open to Penn affiliates

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain the paradoxical relationship between prisons and health
   Attendees will gain greater understanding of the complex and paradoxical role of prisons as institutions that are simultaneously punitive and therapeutic. This includes understanding how prisons are legally and operationally required to provide health care, yet the conditions of confinement often undermine physical and mental well-being.
2. Assess the multilevel effects of mass incarceration on health
   Attendees will develop deeper awareness of the impacts of incarceration on health across multiple levels, including on Individuals during incarceration and after release, and at the health system, and family and community levesl.
3. Understand policy challenges and reform approaches at the intersection of incarceration and health
   Attendees will learn about key policy issues highlighted in the research, such as the legal mandates governing prison health care, barriers to continuity of care post-release, and structural obstacles to meaningful reform.

Hosted by: Leonard Davis Institute

Description: A panel from Penn Medicine Doylestown Health describes the development of a patient advocacy project focused on patient-initiated teach-back . Learn how, through collaboration with multiple committees, this project was created and implemented to improve patient-provider engagement, health equity and patient safety. Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) members join patient education and patient experience staff to describe the work and feedback.

Speakers:

• Penn Medicine Doylestown Health
• Karen D. Ross MSN, RN Karen.Ross2@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu (Patient and Family Education Coordinator)
• Beverly Harrison BSN MHA Beverly.Harrison@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu (Patient Experience Coordinator)
• Kathleen Kennerley kkennerley@comcast.net (community member for Patient and Family Advisory Council)
• Kelly Patterson pttrsnkl@aol.com (community member for Patient and Family Advisory Council)

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the relationship of health literacy strategies (i.e., teach back) and health equity.
2. State the steps in the project development (collaborations and patient engagement).
3. Identify project feedback.

Hosted by: Penn Medicine Health Literacy Collaborative (Patient Family Education - REACH to Teach Toolkit)

Description: The Penn Center for Public Health hosts bi-annual symposium series on pressing public health issues in Philadelphia and nationwide. This Spring Symposium will convene cross-sector perspectives to examine youth incarceration, its lifelong public health impacts, and policy and community-based solutions for change, with a focus on adolescents and young adults ages 12-26.

Speakers:

• Terrell Woolfolk, Prison Rights Activist
• Shariff Ingram, Speakers Bureau and Policy Coordinator, Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project
• Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, Mural Arts Philadelphia
• Keisha Hudson, Chief Defender, Defenders Association of Philadelphia
• Jordan King, Juvenile Diversion Unit Supervisor, Philadelphia Office of the District Attorney

Event Location: Smilow

Hosted by: Penn Center for Public Health

Speaker: Director Helena Jeudin, Clinical Research Coordinator, Department of Emergency Medicine, Urban Health Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine and Panel

Description: The Health Related Social Needs (HRSN) Core Council is a platform where staff can learn more about impact of social determinants of health, and other topics on diversity, inclusivity, and health equity. We have invited producer Helena Jeudin who is an emerging public health leader and budding filmmaker who believes in the power of multimedia storytelling to advance public health awareness, policy, and action. This short documentary spotlights the neighborhood of Frankford Philadelphia. The film seeks to uplift diverse perspectives and reframe how we identify and define environmental health priorities — centering community voices and advocating for equitable, neighborhood-driven change. Helena Jeudin grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and is an alum of the University of Pennsylvania MPH program. Helena currently is a research coordinator in the Center for Health Justice where she works on the IGNITE study, facilitating initiatives that address social determinants of health and wellbeing among Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities. As a Haitian immigrant and nearly lifelong Philadelphia resident, Helena has keen interests in both global and local health outcomes.Helena is an emerging public health leader and budding filmmaker who believes in the power of multimedia storytelling to advance public health awareness, policy, and action. Helena’s past work includes several years as a behavioral health case manager where she helped individuals with substance use and co-occurring disorders navigate healthcare and social service systems, access treatment, and achieve their holistic recovery goals. Helena joined the Penn community in 2021 to support the Penn Go Vax team’s community outreach efforts, increasing COVID vaccine uptake and addressing vaccine hesitancy in underserved, predominantly Black and brown, communities of Philadelphia. Helena’s public health interests include intimate partner violence, maternal health, migrant health, behavioral health, gun violence, trauma informed care, and – more broadly – the impacts of health disparities and structural racism on vulnerable communities. Her current academic projects include evaluating a local migrant mental health program and a capstone study on the perceptions of behavior change among men who use violence in their intimate relationships with the goal of furthering our understanding of how to best engage this population towards change. Helena received a B.S. in Biology and a certificate in Health Studies from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.

Hosted by: Health Related Social Needs (HRSN) Core Council

Description: This talk will examine how structural inequalities - rather than biological differences – drive disparities in hypertension, stroke and maternal neurocritical illness, with a particular focus on hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Using contemporary data and neurocritical care-relevant case examples, the talk will highlight how social determinants of health shape who presents to the ICU, when they arrive and with that outcomes. The sessions will conclude with practical, systems level strategies clinicians and institutions can implement to advance equity as a core dimension of quality and safety.

Learning Objectives:

1. This talk will frame health equity as a core neurocritical care issue.
2. Review disparities in hypertension, stroke and maternal stroke.
3. Discuss structural drivers and system level implications.
4. Identify actionable strategies for clinicians and health systems.

Hosted by: FOCUS

Description: A panel discussion with a neurologist, physician’s assistant, and social worker exploring the following: 1) current and historical health inequities in neurological care and outcomes; 2) practical interventions for clinicians, care teams, and systems to promote equitable neurological care; 3) and opportunities to address gaps in neurological care through community outreach and partnerships.

Location: Zubrow Auditorium at Penn Hospital and Virtual

Hosted by: Pennsylvania Hospital

Description: Panel presentation with Penn PORTAL Scholars, moderated by Heather Klusaritz, discussing how to practice community engagement in a Learning Health System.

Learning Objectives:

1. Principles around health and healthcare equity and justice – how this is evolving in a changing world
2. Methods for engaging diverse patients, community members, and caregivers
3. Lessons learned from LHS initiatives at Penn

Hosted by: Penn Portal

Description: Studies across health professions have documented that students feel inadequately prepared by their programs to care for LGBTQIA+ populations. This lack of training is mirrored in studies of patient experience, with LGBTQIA+ patients reporting negative experiences with health care providers and subsequent avoidance of care. This presentation shares findings from a 2025 study of Penn dental, nursing, and medical students examining their attitudes toward treating LGBTQIA+ patients and their sense of preparedness to do so. Results are compared with a similar 2014 assessment to explore changes over the past decade. The session will highlight effective teaching strategies across disciplines and identify opportunities to strengthen LGBTQIA+ health education moving forward.

Hosted by: EIDOS LGBTQ+ Health Initiative