The Community Engagement Toolbox
Racism & American Christianity
Resource Library
Introduction: A Holistic Approach
It was once widely believed that if you were concerned with the health of your community, you would turn to the health sector. That is where you look—or so it was thought—if you want to know something about health and disease. It is true that access to health care is a grave concern, especially for those who most need it; the majority of the blame for premature loss of life, however, goes to social factors. As people of faith who are called to care for our communities, these social factors offer us a place to begin and evaluate our work.
As the final report of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) explained, “The high burden of illness responsible for appalling premature loss of life arises in large part because of the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. In their turn, poor and unequal living conditions are the consequences of poor social policies and programs, unfair economic arrangements, and bad politics.”
In other words, health equity helps us see that injustice is about more than a public debate we are having where some of us can duck out of the conversation. Social injustice is deadly. The social determinants of health give us language to see how injustice impacts the health of our communities. Even more, the social determinants help us visualize what a healed and whole society can be. Reducing health inequities is an ethical imperative. Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale. The truth is, we can do something about it.
A Holistic Approach
This is what makes sense to go here. We will talk about:
The social determinants of health. We will break down the points of the resolution made in 2021 declaring racism as a public health crisis. I don’t want to write. I want to design. Is this a good design? What makes a good design? A good design creates a magical sense of place, where finding yourself among resources that have carefully been curated. Should I involve someone who has a background in library science? How about Sandy?
Ok. So what else goes on this site? What else would we want or need?
Introduction
It was once widely believed that if you were concerned with the health of your community, you would turn to the health sector. That is where you look if you want to know something about health and disease. It is true that access to health care is a grave concern, especially for those who most need it. But the majority of the blame for premature loss of life goes to social factors. As the final report of the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health of the World Health Organization (WHO) explained, “The high burden of illness responsible for appalling premature loss of life arises in large part because of the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. In their turn, poor and unequal living conditions are the consequences of poor social policies and programs, unfair economic arrangements, and bad politics.”
In other words, racism is not just a debate we are having where some of us can duck out of the conversation. Racism is deadly. The social determinants of health give us language that helps us see the effects of white supremacy in our communities. Even more, the social determinants help us visualize what an Anti-Racist society can be. Reducing health inequities is an ethical imperative. Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale. The truth is, we can do something about it.
A Holistic Approach
This is what makes sense to go here. We will talk about:
The social determinants of health. We will break down the points of the resolution made in 2021 declaring racism as a public health crisis. I don’t want to write. I want to design. Is this a good design? What makes a good design? A good design creates a magical sense of place, where finding yourself among resources that have carefully been curated. Should I involve someone who has a background in library science? How about Sandy?
Ok. So what else goes on this site? What else would we want or need?
Health Disparities
This is what makes sense to go here. We will talk about:
The social determinants of health. We will break down the points of the resolution made in 2021 declaring racism as a public health crisis. I don’t want to write. I want to design. Is this a good design? What makes a good design? A good design creates a magical sense of place, where finding yourself among resources that have carefully been curated. Should I involve someone who has a background in library science? How about Sandy?
Ok. So what else goes on this site? What else would we want or need?
The Causes
This is what makes sense to go here. We will talk about:
The social determinants of health. We will break down the points of the resolution made in 2021 declaring racism as a public health crisis. I don’t want to write. I want to design. Is this a good design? What makes a good design? A good design creates a magical sense of place, where finding yourself among resources that have carefully been curated. Should I involve someone who has a background in library science? How about Sandy?
Ok. So what else goes on this site? What else would we want or need?
A Call to Action
This is what makes sense to go here. We will talk about:
The social determinants of health. We will break down the points of the resolution made in 2021 declaring racism as a public health crisis. I don’t want to write. I want to design. Is this a good design? What makes a good design? A good design creates a magical sense of place, where finding yourself among resources that have carefully been curated. Should I involve someone who has a background in library science? How about Sandy?
Ok. So what else goes on this site? What else would we want or need?