Author: jge28@georgetown.edu

Oct. 20 2016

At THEARC in southeast Washington, D.C. Community leaders, clinicians, and students presenting at the day-long event emphasized how to engage and lift up young people living in underserved areas.

The empowerment of youth is the core mission of the Rodham Institute, which works to improve health equity in Washington, D.C., through community collaborations, health education, and service learning, said Jehan “Gigi” El-Bayoumi, M.D., READ ’88, founding director of the Rodham Institute.

Millennials face many misconceptions, but if given a real chance to engage and be heard, they can make a world of difference, said Rain Henderson, CEO of Clinton Health Matters Initiative, which works to improve people’s health and well-being.

“It’s important to focus on our youth, it’s important to empower our youth, but I think it’s taken us a while to understand how to really do that,” she said in her welcoming remarks. “I credit the Rodham Institute for taking the right approach from the beginning … to include youth in that process and in decision-making.”

However, young people living in impoverished areas have many obstacles to their health. Social determinants, such as poverty, water and air quality, and educational status, all make a difference in well-being, El-Bayoumi said. In addition, mental health is not separate from physical health.

That’s why programs such as the Youth Escape Arena, Inc. and Little Friends for Peace (LFFP) work to create positive environments for disadvantaged youth.

During a panel discussion on youth advocacy, MJ Park, founder and executive director of LFFP, spoke about the program’s Peace Classes, an environment that allows kids to go inward to find peace. Park gave the example of a 5th grader who was acting out. After getting her to open up about her anger, Park learned the young girl could not read. “When you can’t read, when you don’t feel like somebody, you’re angry and you lash out,” she said.

Samantha Simpore, founder of Youth Escape Arena, added that labels such as “at-risk” can be toxic. “Our kids are ‘at promise,’ ” she said. “The environments which they come from are at-risk.

“When kids are empowered and know they can make an impact in the world, you will be surprised by the magic that can happen,” she added.

Pipeline programs, the topic of the second panel discussion, allow educational institutions to help young adults realize their full potential.

Nicholas Dingle, a 17-year-old Suitland High School student from Forestville, Maryland, served as an example of someone who gained from such programs during the panel discussion. Dingle participates in Rodham’s Health, Education & Leadership (HELP) program. Through HELP, Dingle has worked on social impact research projects, and during the discussion he expressed appreciation for the ways in which the program has enabled him to develop into a “well-rounded” member of his community.

Alexia Charles also addressed the importance of the programs from the perspective of a participant and later leader. The third-year M.D. program students at SMHS worked with the D.C. Health and Preparation Program, mentoring high school students in the D.C. area.

“It was a great experience for me to be able to expose them to health care careers, to be a role model for some of them, to just give them an idea of what they could do, what the opportunities are,” she said.

There’s also a need in such communities for health workers who are truly connected to the patient population, added Daniel Mays, SMHS ’15, resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. That’s something he saw first-hand in Uganda, where community health workers were unpaid volunteers who simply wanted to help others.

Health providers, from local health workers up to physicians and surgeons, must say, “this is not just a group of people that’s going to utilize my services and pay me, but this is a group of people I want to see thrive,” he said.

During the summit, the Rodham Institute presented three awards totaling $30,000 to support projects linking community members, organizations, and leaders with academic partners at GW. Awards went to ventures that provided support for youth mental health first aid instructors, engaged communities to enhance asthma care, and created toolkits for families of LGBTQ youth.

Cora Masters Barry, founder and CEO of the Recreation Wish List Committee, presented a keynote address during the lunch hour. She noted the importance of recreation in the health of her community, Ward 8. In southeast Washington, D.C., Barry said, “recreation is a matter of life or death.”

The Recreation Wish List Committee provides safe, state-of-the-art recreation centers to help underserved youth.

Barry’s Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, which opened down the road from THE ARC in 2001 and was remodeled in 2015, uses tennis as a hook to help children academically. It offers tutoring for students, programs for both students and parents, and nutrition education. Tennis serves to teach children personal responsibility and accountability, Barry said. When playing the game, she said, “you can’t lean on anybody else; when you pick up that racket it’s just you.”

October 6 2015

Health equity in Washington, D.C., the home of some of the country’s most impoverished and underserved, is a pervasive theme across discussions between health care workers and advocates. That on-going dialogue continued during the third annual Rodham Institute Summit, held Oct. 2 at THEARC in southeast D.C. The event featured panels of health care and health policy experts discussing topics such as childhood obesity, access to mental health care and the importance of community health partnerships, but it was the first-person narratives of those dealing with these challenges that made the topics more tangible.

“If you really understand the context,” began sixth-generation Washingtonian Marcus Andrews at the “Addressing Childhood Obesity”-focused panel, “it caused my weight to spiral out of control.”

Andrews, whose family enrolled him in academic courses and church activities to keep him safe from crime, was powerless to the corner store near his grandmother’s home. The four-for-$1 chips, $2 pizzas and Little Debbie’s snack cakes quickly took their toll, and by the time Andrews was 16 — and a college student at the George Washington University (GW) — he was placed under medical supervision. With the help of his adviser, “I was able to lose over 100 pounds,” he said, as the summit audience of community stakeholders applauded. “Ultimately, I want to take my life experiences and my academics … and go back to communities that are disadvantaged, like mine, to really work with the community on designing and implementing culturally sensitive health initiatives.”

For panel members Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation, and Howell Wechsler, chief executive officer of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Andrews’ story exemplifies an ongoing movement toward healthier lives.

“We need to have a sense of urgency,” Ms. Clinton said. “We deserve to have different options, healthier options and healthier pathways.”

Ms. Clinton and Dr. Wechsler cited advancements in partnerships, particularly with food and beverage corporations, in steering standards in a healthier, more beneficial direction. The Alliance has worked to improve the quality of food and physical education in schools and is now emphasizing the education of parents and teachers on healthy habits. It’s a route that Ms. Clinton believes her grandmother, Dorothy Rodham, would approve of.

“The work of the Rodham Institute closely aligns with my grandmother’s belief in the transformative power of education to achieve social change,” she said.

The Rodham Institute, which was established in 2013 in honor of the late Ms. Rodham, uses education to achieve health equity in Washington, D.C. and partners with the community to cultivate the next generation of health care providers.

“I’m just so grateful that the work that the Rodham Institute and GW are doing now is in the same line that everyone should be able to determine their own paths, and that so often things like childhood obesity really are questions of social justice and equity,” Ms. Clinton said.

In an earlier panel on mental health care in the District, personal stories again cut through to the heart of the issue. Between tears and hugs, mental health advocates Kristi Coles and Melinda Hasbrouck related their struggles and successes. Ms. Coles was attending a bachelorette party when her friend was shot; the bullet traveled through his neck and caught Ms. Coles’ earring. “I think I just went into shock right then and there,” she said. Ms. Coles battled with trauma, until a breakdown ultimately drove her to the hospital in 2010. Ms. Hasbrouck, meanwhile, suffered from mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder and suicidal tendencies, during law school. After a couple of suicide attempts, she sought help from her law school’s counseling center, in addition to other programs. Both Ms. Coles and Ms. Hasbrouck, who is now the executive director of Our Door, believe access to mental health — and reducing social stigma — is critical.

It’s a stance that Former Senator Chris Dodd, who spoke during the Summit’s luncheon, supports. “There are few issues that touch the lives of people more than mental illness,” he said. The Rodham Institute, he added, has helped, both with mental health and other illnesses affecting the community. “What they do at the institute is making an important difference, every single day.”

The institute, which is housed within the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences and supported by the GW Medical Faculty Associates, has partnered with several organizations, many of whom presented on successful outreach programs during the Summit. Additional posters on research projects, including those from the Institute’s Health Education and Leadership Programs, a comprehensive pipeline program designed to cultivate student interest in diverse health professions among underrepresented minority youth, were also included in the presentation line-up.

In encouraging partnerships, Jehan “Gigi” El-Bayoumi, M.D., READ ’88, founding director of the institute, awarded three small grants, totaling $35,000, to collaborative projects.

“This summit was not only about celebrating the great work that’s being done every day by silent heroes in our community that lifts people so that they can be healthier and able to lead happier lives. It’s also about sharing and exchanging experiences and maximizing the collective work being done to improve our city’s health,” Dr. El-Bayoumi said. “To hear about individual stories of people who have transcended incredible hardships and to learn about how various organizations address issues from food insecurity to mental health or HIV was truly inspiring.”

WASHINGTON (Oct. 2, 2015) — Despite having access to world-class health care, Washington, D.C. suffers enormous health disparities. At today’s Third Annual Rodham Institute Summit at THEARC in southeast D.C., leaders from across the city came together to discuss how they can promote health equity and partner to bring compassionate and high-quality health care to all.

Speakers included Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton and Senator Chris Dodd.

“The Rodham Institute’s focus on forging partnerships among leaders and organizations in D.C. and teaching future and current health workers about health disparities is a step in the right direction in our fight to reduce health disparities and curable epidemics, such as obesity,” said Chelsea Clinton. “The work of the Rodham Institute closely aligns with my grandmother’s belief in the transformative power of education to achieve social change and with the work we at the Clinton Foundation and Alliance for a Healthier Generation feel so passionately about.”

As part of a panel discussion, Chelsea Clinton also discussed the work of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, which works to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity and to empower kids to develop lifelong, healthy habits.

Community organizations, such as the United Medical Center, Unity Health Care, the University of the District of Columbia Nursing and Allied Health Programs, Family Matters of Greater Washington, Whitman-Walker Health, and the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health School Behavioral Health Program participated in panel discussions on delivering community-based care, educating future providers, and mental health in D.C.

The Rodham Institute, seeks to apply the transformative power of education to help future and current health care providers achieve health equity in D.C. This year’s summit theme was “Celebrating Great Work in Our Community: Health Equity Success Stories” and highlighted the innovative work taking place to address health equity in the District. The Summit was sponsored by CareFirst, AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia and Kaiser Permanente.

“This summit was not only about celebrating the great work that’s being done every day by silent heroes in our community that lifts people so that they can be healthier and able to lead happier lives. It’s also about sharing and exchanging experiences and maximizing the collective work being done to improve our city’s health,” said Jehan ‘Gigi’ El-Bayoumi, M.D., founding director of the Rodham Institute. “To hear about individual stories of people who have transcended incredible hardships and to learn about how various organizations address issues from food insecurity to mental health or HIV was truly inspiring.”

At the Summit, the Rodham Institute awarded $35,000 in grants to collaborations between community organizations and students or faculty that successfully demonstrated the potential for advancing the health and well-being of the residents of D.C.

Junior high and high school students who participated as part of the Rodham Institute’s Health Education and Leadership Programs, a comprehensive pipeline program designed to cultivate student interest in diverse health professions among underrepresented minority youth, presented posters. The students presented three social impact projects designed to promote health-related improvements in their own communities. 

According to the D.C. Department of Health residents living in Ward 8, which has one of the city’s highest poverty rates, are nearly twice as likely to be obese as residents across D.C. To help close such health gaps, the Rodham Institute brought together experts to find sustainable solutions to the health problems that plague underserved residents in the District.

The Rodham Institute,  hosted its second annual summit to promote health equity on Thursday.

“The goal today is to first acknowledge the work that has already been done, to catch people up on the Rodham Institute’s progress and to continue to inspire people who are already doing the work,” said Jehan “Gigi” El-Bayoumi, founding director of the Rodham Institute. The institute seeks to apply the transformative power of education to help current and future health care providers achieve health equity in Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey S. Akman, M.D. ’81, READ ’85, Walter A. Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine, vice president for health affairs and dean of SMHS, welcomed leaders from health advocacy organizations who filled Jack Morton Auditorium to learn the latest methods to effectively promote local and national health equity.

George Washington University President Steven Knapp introduced Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rain Henderson, CEO of the Clinton Health Matters Initiative, who led the conversation about health equity and what is being done to combat these issues.

“It’s an incredible honor to have this institute named in memory of my mother,” Clinton said. “The mission of the institute is so much in line with what we are doing at the Clinton Foundation and is also in line with my mother’s own upbringing and her concerns about caring for people who were left out and left behind.” 

Clinton recalled the connection her mother developed with her physician, El-Bayoumi. “She and Gigi formed such a close personal bond over the years,” Clinton recalled. “They would talk for hours about what kind of obligations we owe each other.

“She always impressed upon us that we have an obligation to think about ways to improve the quality of life in the community,” Clinton said. “That may be one of her lasting lessons. It certainly was for me.”

El-Bayoumi described the institute’s strategic plan, which is broken down into three main areas: workforce development, clinician training and community collaboration.

Together with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW and more than 20 community partners from across the city, the institute received a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to study a new model that aims to improve HIV prevention and care while lowering health care costs. The institute also coordinated several volunteer experiences for medical students and residents at Food and Friends, an organization dedicated to caring for people living with HIV/AIDS by preparing and delivering specialized meals.

“That’s an incredible amount of results-oriented work in one year,” said Clinton, commending the work of the institute and of GW. “I think you are targeting areas that are critically important to try to change attitudes, increase education and awareness, deliver services and connect people.

“This has been done by so many people over so many years, but on small scales and not sustainable,” said Clinton, explaining how the Rodham Institute’s work dovetails with efforts at the Clinton Foundation through the Clinton Health Matters Initiative.

The initiative was created to improve the health and well-being of all people by activating individuals, communities and organizations to make meaningful contributions to the health of others.

“Our goal is to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases,” added Henderson, who leads the initiative. “What the Clinton Health Matters Initiative does best is system changes and system strengthening at the national, community and environmental levels.”

At the event, the Rodham Institute Community Collaborator Award was presented to Breathe DC, an organization dedicated to reducing asthma and lung disease in the city. The $5,000 grant was awarded for a proposal to create a parent advocacy group to improve housing and health conditions for children and their families.

Community partners and students involved in the Rodham Institute’s Health Education Leadership Programs, a comprehensive pipeline program designed to cultivate student interest in diverse health professions among underrepresented minority youth, led poster presentations during the event. Discussions on health professions training, workforce development and community collaboration also were featured during the summit.

“There are so many people, particularly young people and children, who have such great potential but are held back by the circumstances of their environment, their family or the institutions around them,” noted Clinton. “Health is such a core purpose for any society to try to provide, but to do it in smart ways that really look at not just individual health and delivery, but also community health, so that there will be more people, like those that my mother encountered, who feel they have both an opportunity and an obligation to try to improve the environment for everyone.”

November 12, 2013

The Rodham Institute, named in honor of the late Ms. Dorothy E. Rodham, was the recipient of the Dr. Walter M. Booker Health Promotion Award, given out by The Association of Black Cardiologists, Sept. 28. The Institute is an action­ oriented organization committed to reducing health disparities in Washington, D.C.

Jehan El-Bayoumi, M.D., director of the Rodham Institute and associate professor of medicine, at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, accepted the award on behalf of the Clinton family and the Rodham Institute. Bayoumi was recognized for leadership in founding the Institute.

The award, named after Dr. Walter M.  Booker, Sr., who passed away in 1998, honors his career and contributions to academic medicine.

WASHINGTON (Oct. 30, 2014) — Today, the Rodham Institute hosted its 2014 Summit to promote health equity. Attendees included leaders from local and national health advocacy organizations, as well as Hillary Rodham Clinton and Clinton Health Matters Initiative Chief Executive Officer Rain Henderson. The Institute seeks to apply the transformative power of education to help future and current health care providers achieve health equity in Washington, D.C.

“Over the last year, the Rodham Institute has worked toward identifying sustainable solutions to promote health equity through education and training,” said Jehan ‘Gigi’ El-Bayoumi, M.D., founding director of the Rodham Institute. “Having an open dialogue and working with leaders of existing community programs and organizations, as encouraged in today’s Summit, is paramount to meeting our goals.”

At the Summit, the Rodham Institute awarded a $5,000 grant to Breathe DC, an organization dedicated to reducing asthma and lung disease in D.C., for their proposal to create a parent advocacy group to improve housing and health conditions for children and their families.

Poster presentations by the Institute’s community partners and students involved in the Rodham Institute’s Health Education Leadership Programs, a comprehensive pipeline program designed to cultivate student interest in diverse health professions among underrepresented minority youth, were exhibited during the event. Discussions on health professions training, workforce development, and community collaboration were also an important part of the Summit.

“It’s an incredible honor to have this Institute named in memory of my mother,” said Clinton. “The mission of the Institute is so much in line with what we are doing at the Clinton Foundation and is also in line with my mother’s own upbringing and her concerns about caring for people who are left out and left behind.”

Founded in 2013, in honor of the late Dorothy Rodham, the Rodham Institute’s focus is partnering with the D.C. community to achieve health equity through the education and cultivation of the next generation of community-oriented health care providers. Through creating and supporting programs, such as a new health equity elective at SMHS, the Rodham Institute is training future and current health care providers how to use innovative strategies to improve health care for all. In the years ahead, the Rodham Institute hopes to establish practices that will serve as a benchmark for other medical and health sciences schools across the country.