In partnership with DOH, DH hosted a community conversation about equitable recovery on May 12. This topic is of particular importance as we learn to coexist with COVID-19 and continue to aid our communities in healing from the pandemic. During the conversation, we defined equitable recovery together and discussed its relationship to sustainability planning. We also had the privilege of hearing from Washington State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah about the state’s public health priorities and the next phase of Washington’s COVID-19 response. For further insight into the conversation, consult the key themes gathered during our discussion or access the meeting materials below.
Key Themes
- Many communities still need help and are being actively affected by COVID-19 despite the move toward “recovery.” Community partners are equipped to provide community members tailored support to meet them where they’re at.
- There is bias (intentional or not) that impacts health care delivery. In addition, official guidance may not always account for systemic biases that exist and continue to disproportionately affect specific communities. In one example, a partner shared a personal story that demonstrated that COVID-19 Therapeutics have not been equally accessible across communities. In another example, a partner shared that undocumented and migrant communities and other communities do not have equitable access to health care, despite the lower costs of COVID-19-related care.
- Communities always need a seat at the table and a voice in the conversation. Grants based on what community partners know their communities need allow for demand-focused activations. Community partners can continue building better capacity and sustaining and expanding infrastructure when engaged consistently.
- Integrating departments/topics within DOH or across state agencies and engaging community partners as well to address all social determinants of health would be key to transforming health outcomes for all communities.
- In relation to being part of the DH DOH CMO program, partners reported experiencing significantly fewer barriers in participating in this government program. For example, partners shared the process to apply to and contract with the CMO program was streamlined and had fewer barriers than they typically experience in working to apply and contract with other government programs. Partners expressed appreciation for the flexibility of this program’s reporting and project timelines, as well as expedited payment timelines and back-to-back funding rounds, which allowed for sustained efforts and enhanced equity for nonprofit and other partners that typically experience these barriers.
Meeting Materials
For more insight into the conversation, access the recording, slides and transcript of the presentation portion of this conversation here. For those who attended the community conversation, please consider filling out this brief survey about your experience.