COVID19 and Racial Disparities: Addressing the Lingering Effects so that Everyone Wins    (MEMBERS ONLY)

Webinar Objectives:

• Provide an overview, understanding, symptomology and social impact of COVID-19 and its disruption to our normal way of life.
• Explore the economic and social sciences contribution to managing the impacts of this pandemic on families, communities and society.
• Provide issues and lessons learned in understanding the science and education attributing to human social functioning.
• Explore the disproportionality of global health security, crisis management, economic and financial implications of this crisis.
• Discus the long histories of racism, discrimination stress and trauma affecting the health of communities of color and how they shape our systems and policies.
• How to implement successful engagement of racial and ethnic minorities in research and healthcare access
• Introduce anti-racism reckoning in US society contributing to both the challenge and opportunity of COVID-19 mitigation, stigma, treatment, telehealth and socialization.
• Discuss key strategies necessary to mitigate the impacts of similar future events.

Description:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on people’s lives and the societies and economies around the globe.  Its spread has affected many aspects of our daily lives. Social service organizations, higher education institutions, and healthcare systems are just a few of the organizational structures faced with making wide-scale changes to processes and practices as they navigate the ever-changing impact of COVID-19.  The COVID-19 pandemic presents a medical and mental health crisis. Front-line workers are uniquely impacted given the nature of their jobs. Historically they have had daily exposure to grief, loss, and trauma. During this pandemic this exposure has intensified and the impact can become personal. In addition, prior to George Floyd and COVID-19 there has been longstanding and persistent health disparities related to symptoms of broader social and economic challenges.  The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minorities in America.  After 1 year of the first reported case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), research continues to document the crisis’ physical, mental, and economic toll on the nation’s most vulnerable populations.  Disparities in health care existed long before COVID-19 entered the fabric of American life, but no event in modern history has shined such a profound lens on the plethora of imminent health challenges and injustices facing communities of color.  During this difficult time, domestically and globally, an enhanced recognition and understanding of disparities could provide a catalyst for equitable change to occur.  This webinar will introduce and establish key elements and issues of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disparities impact on communities of color.  Strategic solutions and implications for practitioners and professionals will be introduced.

Presenter Biography:

Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor for Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota and has extensive experience teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. Jerrod has also been employed with Pathways Counseling Center in St. Paul, Minnesota for the past seventeen years. Pathways provides programs and services benefiting individuals impacted by mental illness and addictions. Jerrod is also the founder and CEO of the American Institute for the Advancement of Forensic Studies (AIAFS) and the Editor-in-Chief of Forensic Scholars Today (FST). Jerrod has completed four separate master’s degree programs and holds graduate certificates in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Other Health Disabilities (OHD), and Traumatic-Brain Injuries (TBI). Jerrod is also certified as a Youth Firesetting Prevention/Intervention Specialist, an Anger Resolution Therapist (CART), a Thinking for a Change (T4C) Facilitator, a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Trainer, an Autism Specialist, and a Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider (CMHIMP).

Dr. Joshua Kirven is an associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Winthrop University and part-time instructor at North Carolina A&T State University.   Dr. Kirven is a community practitioner in the areas of fatherhood engagement, neighborhood adversity and public safety, youth development, public health and social determinants of men’s health, and community justice and equity.  His scope of research focuses on the social determinants of mental health and substance abuse stressors causing health decline and community alienation of disenfranchised fathers and other marginalized groups.  His practice posits particular focus on place- and SES-related disparities across the life course compared to life expectations and outcomes.  He has over twenty years of experience as Licensed Social Worker in mental health, substance use and community based practice. He is currently a collaborative community advocate with Anuvia Prevention and Recovery Center. Anuvia is the largest provider in Charlotte- Mecklenberg County (North Carolina).  He is a Fulbright Scholar, CSWE site monitor and a national Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).  He is a graduate of Hampton University, University of South Carolina and The Ohio State University, respectively.

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