Death vs. Dollars
LWVBA created a series on Public Health Awareness. The goal is to raise awareness of the importance and value of the public health system to our communities as a vital part of the civic health continuum of the League in empowering voters and defending democracy, to highlight the social determinants of health, and to raise and potentially answer the question: is our health a matter of personal responsibility or a public, collective good?
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Death vs. Dollars: Adverse Childhood Experiences & Toxic Stress. What can be done to mitigate the lasting impacts on our health?
Recorded February 27, 2025. Stress is the natural reaction your body has when adversity or challenges occur. It can result in many different physical, emotional and behavioral responses. We know that persistent toxic stress can alter our brain and hormonal system, provoking our flight or fight response and resulting in impaired immunity and health issues. Early adversity such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse, parental mental or physical health issues and domestic violence can have long lasting impacts.
Death vs. Dollars: Climate Change
Recorded October 10, 2024. This summer's intense heat waves, wildfires and floods have spotlighted the impact of climate change as a major public health threat. The American Lung Association has found that 131 million people live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution - that is 1 in 4 Americans. Our experts will discuss climate change and its relationship to health challenges such as chronic conditions of respiratory and heart disease, preterm labor, changes in vector ecology, water and air quality impacts, and climate anxiety and steps to raise awareness and engagement in our communities.
Death vs. Dollars: Is Housing Healthcare
Recorded July 18, 2024. "Is Housing Healthcare - the impact of housing instability and housing quality on our health". We will spotlight the increased health risks of unstable and poor-quality living conditions on our health outcomes and discuss whether housing is a health related social need. County of Santa Clara Supervisor Cindy Chavez; Alison Cingolani, Policy Manager, SV@Home; and Melissa Jones, Executive Director of BARHI, will share their expertise. The series is based on the premise: “Social policy is health policy. Economic policy is health policy. Education policy is health policy.”
Death vs. Dollars: The Impact of Race and Gender Disparities on Our Health
Recorded April 9th, 2024. What are the issues and how can they be corrected? Race is reflected in the pandemics’ disproportionate effect on communities of color. Women’s diseases are often missed and misdiagnosed. Women and people of color are often ignored by the medical profession. Clinical studies and research are typically limited to white male patients. We will also explore the long-term impact of discrimination and micro-aggressions on our bodies.
Death vs. Dollars: How Can We Deal with Chronic Disease.
Recorded February 12, 2024. Our speakers are Wendy Adams, an advocate for Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease since 2012 when she helped establish the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a patient-driven, research-focused organization that aims to make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure. Wendy is joined by Dr. Carla Kuon and Dr. Alison Cohen from UCSF, who have worked on Long Covid. Dr. Kuon is an integrative medicine faculty member at UCSF with over 20 years in the field and is the author of “The Long Covid Solution”. Dr. Cohen is an epidemiologist who does community-driven, policy-relevant applied epidemiology and public health research to study social and environmental determinants of health inequities.
Death vs. Dollars: How Important Is Our Community Health?
Recorded Oct 10, 2023. This initial event introduces the history, role and scope of Public Health in the United States, where it is and where it should be.
Our expert speakers:
• Dr. Sarah Rudman, Deputy Public Health Officer and Infectious Disease and Response Branch Director, County of Santa Clara Public Health Department
• Kimi Watkins-Tartt, Public Health Director Alameda County, Co-Chair Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII)