The Summer Roundtable Series is a series of free, virtual roundtable discussions with content experts. Roundtable topics will range from health equity initiatives to the role of religious leaders in community health to how you can be a patient consultant to clinical researchers.

These roundtables complement and expand on curriculum of the PATIENTS Professors Academy. The PATIENTS Professors Academy is a free, 5-week program that is completely online with interactive components from our patient advisors and content experts.

Below is the list of roundtable discussions from 2024.

Structural Determinants of Health

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 

Structural racism and institutional policies and practices continue to shape who has access to health-promoting resources and opportunities and who does not. Recent efforts to identify root causes of health inequity have highlighted how historical, systemic, structural, and political forces influence individual risk factors, such as clinical, behavioral, and even social determinants of health. In this year’s ASTARISQ kick-off, our roundtable members will discuss how they have navigated and addressed structural racism in their communities and organizations, as well as opportunities and promising practices for others to take steps to identify and address these factors in their own health delivery system settings. 

Panelists:

  • Malini B. DeSilva (she/her) 
  • Vu-An Foster (she/her)
  • Melissa Moorehead (they/their/ki)
  • Ariana Nuñez-Restituyo, MPH (she/her)

Improving Patient Safety in Health Delivery Systems

Patient safety is the freedom from accidental or preventable injury produced by health care and the practices that create a safe care environment. In this session, experts and administrators from MedStar Health will discuss the formation of their Patient Safety initiatives and how they have incorporated health equity frameworks into their implementation for improving and ensuring patient safety across its health system.  

Panelists:

  • Kate Kellogg, MD, MPH (she/her) 
  • Laura Lee, MS, BSN (she/her) 
  • Karey M. Sutton, PhD (she/her) 
  • Angela D. Thomas, DrPH, MPH, MBA (she/her) 

Overcoming Systemic Oppression and Improving Healthcare Delivery

Wednesday, July 31, 2024 

Research to improve healthcare delivery requires people and community engagement, tools and training to enable healthcare professionals to deliver whole-person care, and an increase in the use of evidence in healthcare policy, coverage, and clinical practice. In this roundtable, our speakers will share their experiences and promising practices in engaging people and communities in care, including strategies to engage and empower patients and caregivers in direct care and care coordination.  

Moderator: L. Marie Asad is a PATIENTS Professor and Manager of Community Outreach & Engagement at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.

Panelists:

  • Laura Bray (she/her)
  • Lillian Mehran (she/her),
  • Citseko Staples Miller (she/her) 
  • Aneri Pattani (she/her) 

Whole-person Healthcare

Wednesday, August 7, 2024 

Whole-person care is based on the values and circumstances of each individual patient and addressing preventative and chronic physical, behavioral, and social health needs. Effective delivery of whole-person healthcare is critical to optimize health, functional status, and well-being, as well as critical to eliminate health inequities across the life span, emphasizing the needs of older adults and children with complex medical conditions. Roundtable members will discuss their experiences in patient, practice, community, and health system level interventions, designed to improve access, quality, outcomes, and equity care.  

Panelists:

  • Jason Falvey (he/him) 
  • Joe Huang (he/him) 
  • Kelsey Sala-Hamrick (she/her)  
  • Jared Walker (he/him) 

Tools to Advance Health Equity in Healthcare Institutions

Wednesday, August 14, 2024 

We aim to build a community of practice as part of ASTARISQ initiative. By sharing lessons learned and promising practices to address structural racism in patient safety, healthcare delivery, and advancing whole-person care, we embrace opportunities for continued learning, implementation, and advancement across health systems. In our final 2024 roundtable, our members will discuss evidence-based practices for addressing and reducing structural racism at the individual and organizational levels and facilitate opportunities to practice the use of various tools in diverse contexts. Together, we will make health delivery systems safer, patient-centered, and higher quality.  

Panelists:

  • Moacir (Mo) Barbosa (he/him)  
  • Tatiana Bustos (she/her) 
  • Mathew J. Edick (he/him) 
  • Lou Hart (he/him) 
  • Deana Williams (she/her)