CONNECT: Community, Opportunity, Innovation, Exchange, Collaboration, Trust

Join the COMMUNITY Center – Columbia University, Hunter CUNY, Northwell Health, Physician Affiliate Group of NY, and Weill Cornell – and The Trust Collaboratory at Columbia University for a one-day event exploring intersections and opportunities among community engagement, research, healthcare, and policy to advance public health in New York City. This participatory event is intended for community leaders, Community Health Workers (CHWs), researchers, clinicians, public health practitioners, policymakers, and students.

Objectives for the day:

• Creating pathways for structural change to improve public health through interdisciplinary partnerships that inform health policy

• The science and impact of CHWs as trusted liaisons between communities, researchers, and the healthcare system

• How community needs and priorities guide current community programs, clinical research, and public health practice

CONNECT includes panel discussions, interactive workshops and presentations, and dialogue sessions with CHWs, all led by experts in community leadership, equity-focused advocacy and policy, service delivery, community-led health disparities initiatives, community science and clinical research.

Please choose your workshop during your registration process, as this will allow us to assign the correct space for each offering. If you need to cancel your registration, kindly do so as soon as possible so that we may free up that slot for another registrant.

Presentations will be conducted in English. While we cannot guarantee live interpretation services for all languages, we will do our best to accommodate requests.

This workshop will be a talk given by the founder of AAA. Led by artists, athletes and activists who use their platform to take action and bring awareness to issues that deal with health, fitness, wellness, and social justice in a marginalized and underserved communities. They have community plant-based fridges providing fresh food to families in the Lower East Side and raise awareness about health, fitness and wellness. But since August 2022, AAA has received and assisted 500-700 new migrants per day; linking them with food, clothing and information. While there exists a vast network of nonprofits and government organizations in NYC, the primary problem they face is there is no "first line of support" for new migrant and asylum seekers.

This workshop will highlight Center for NuLeadership's Human Justice and Healing work. Facilitators will provide an overview of our intergenerational Village Circle Process and attendees will engage in a health and structural literacy game developed for CNHJH's Revolution School community-course on Trust, Health and Equity. Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn about how the Village Circle informed "12 Seasons Clinic" which was developed to address and ensure the health and wellness of our community.

Part 1 will continue the conversations and discussions initiated by the 2022 photovoice project, providing an opportunity to explore if and how the role of CHWs has evolved. We will examine the new challenges that have emerged in a current, post-pandemic health emergency public health landscape and identify the concerns and needs that CHWs continue to face.

Part 2 will engage clinicians, medical leaders, public health experts, funders, and policymakers in a dialogue with CHWs, focused on training, visibility, recognition, and employment conditions, addressing the systemic issues affecting the medical field and the role of CHWs within it. This session will provide a rare opportunity for medical and policy leaders to enter a face-to-face consultation with those who work at the frontlines of the public health system. We will include elements of a focus group and strategy meeting, with the goal of identifying how current systems can be made more inclusive, transparent, and responsive to the needs of local communities and thereby become more trustworthy particularly in underserved communities.

PLEASE NOTE: The primary audience for these workshops are CHWs and they will have priority in registering for this workshop.

There will be a brief presentation of the All of Us Research Program and a customized "data treasure hunt" with 15-20 questions to help attendees become familiar with the All of Us public Data Browser. Participants will work in groups of two or three to foster a collaborative environment. We will then review the answers to the treasure hunt and discuss any questions attendees may have.

PLEASE NOTE: You will need to bring your laptop with you to participate.

The Cooking Demonstration is based on the cultural and historical context of everyday foods. Attendees to the workshop will learn from our chef about the history and cultural significance of the foods we eat every day. Chef Jamie will focus on a 5-senses interactive cooking lesson with ingredients from diverse cultural backgrounds, and recipe tastings. Recipes and ingredients will change based on cultural relevancy, seasonality, and more.

In this interactive workshop, attendees will be asked to share their personal social-emotional benefits of fitness. Then I Challenge Myself will present on their program and the positive SEL and civic engagement benefits, which can be mental and social determinants of healthy well-being in youth. Attendees will break into groups to collaborate on a mini-project, then report back to the group. Attendees will have a greater understanding of the connections between fitness, social-emotional growth, civic engagement, and overall well-being.

Moving for Life’s DanceExercise for Health® classes use gentle aerobic exercise to motivate older adults and people of different ages and abilities affected by chronic illness: COVID-19, Diabetes, Heart Disease, COPD, Arthritis, and cancer. These classes support mental and physical health while carefully increasing energy, range of motion, lymphatic flow, joint ease, mental acuity, balance, calorie burning, and strengthening. MFL can be adapted to seated participants.

PLEASE NOTE: This workshop will involve some gentle movements and light exercise.

Please note: Photography will be taken throughout the course of the day. If you DO NOT want to be photographed, please let us know in the registration form.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Forum at Columbia University, 605 West 125th Street, New York, United States