Page 59 - Healthcare News August 2021

ARMBROOK VILLAGE .................................... 15 BACON WILSON ............................................ 38 BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME .......... BACK COVER BERKSHIRE BANK WEALTH MANAGEMENT ... 33 BFAIR, BERKSHIRE FAMILY
& INDIVIDUAL RESOURCES................... 5, 32
BIG Y ............................................................. 36
CENTER FOR EXTENDED CARE AT AMHERST .. 34
CHRISTOPHER HEIGHTS
ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITIES........ 17, 21
EAST LONGMEADOW SKILLED NURSING....... 14 FALLON HEALTH ............................................ 11 GOLDEN YEARS HOME CARE................... 24, 41 GREATER SPRINGFIELD SENIOR SERVICES .... 34 HABITAT FOR HUMANITY............................... 32
HEALTH NEW ENGLAND ................................ 31 HEALTHCARE HEROES ..................................... 2 HOLYOKE MEDICAL CENTER....................30, 47 HOSPICE OF THE FISHER HOME ................... 27 JDL FINANCIAL.............................................. 39 JGS LIFECARE................................................19 LATHROP COMMUNITIES, THE ................ 14, 19 LOUIS & CLARK PHARMACY .......................... 25 MARY’S MEADOW......................................... 28 MASON WRIGHT ........................................... 28 MERCY LIFE ................................................... 35 MEYERS BROTHERS KALICKA, P.C.................... 7 OASIS SENIOR ADVISORS ............................. 20 OVERLOOK VNA AND HOSPICE ..................... 26
POWERS LAW GROUP ................................... 39 PROSPER LIFE CARE ...................................... 22 PUFFERS SALON & DAY SPA .......................... 37 REAL LIVING REALTY PROS.
- CHERYL MALANDRINOS ........................ 17 RIVER VALLEY COUNSELING CENTER......... 5, 45 ROCKRIDGE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY........20 SERV-U LOCKSMITHS .................................... 16 SILVER LININGS HOME CARE ........................ 23 VA WESTERN & CENTRAL MASS..................... 22 VISITING ANGELS .......................................... 13 WESTMASS ELDERCARE ................................ 16 YMCA OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD.................. 44
AUGUST 2021 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 59
Climate
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we look at who the populations are, who is it that are most impacted, it’s people with asthma, people with respiratory disease, people with cardiovascular disease, elders, and children.”
Asthma, as an enviromental and health issue, has been a major problem in Spring- field for a long time. Just this year, the
city relinquished its two-year reign as the nation’s number-one asthma capital, and
is now ranked by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America as the 12th-most- challenging place to live with asthma, based on asthma prevalence, mortality, and emergency-room use for asthma.
It’s not reason for celebration, exactly, but it’s a solid start — one that coincides with the Springfield Healthy Homes Asth- ma Program and other community health worker asthma interventions in the region, as well as an improvement in air quality as reported by the American Lung Assoc. State of the Air report.
“Although still a serious problem that af- fects many families and communities in our region, this improvement shows that the work to improve asthma outcomes is hav- ing an impact,” the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition noted. “This is good news for our local families and communities. However, there are still questions to be answered about addressing the causes of asthma
onset and asthma flareups.”
If the projects being pursued by the Live
Well Springfield Climate Justice Initiative put a dent in asthma incidence — the idea being that smarter choices in the realms of energy and development will have environmental payoffs — that would rep- resent fulfillment of some long-held goals, Hudson said.
“We looked at how we, as a community, are going to work toward implementation of some of those goals,” she said of the process of choosing two specific policies. “That’s how we narrowed it: which one would have the biggest impact on health, which one would have the biggest impact on racial equity, and which would get us closer to impacting reducing greenhouse- gas emissions, which are causing the climate crisis?”
Another factor was deciding which poli- cies the community would most eagerly support, Bilal added. Now, the coalition has three years to campaign for these policies and push specific aspects of their imple- mentation. Community education will be a key element.
“It’s a learning space,” she said. “This is not my wheelhouse, but as we’ve been talk- ing about the climate impacts, and who is impacted, it became clear there’s absolutely a connection to racial-equity issues.”
Bilal conceded that much work needs
to be done to help people understand that populations most affected by environmen- tal issues like asthma, and who will be most affected by climate change, are often urban, low-income, and/or communities of color.
“How can we support these communi- ties that need to have some preparedness and understanding of how your asthma is triggered, how your environment connects to your health?” she went on. “How is our community infrastructure built around them that could perpetuate the problem? So our goal, with this grant, is to work with the community, work with city officials, and advocate for policy changes that would have an impact in addressing racial-equity issues as well as environmental-justice is- sues and climate.”
Environment for Change
The Kresge Foundation has been pursu- ing such issues on a national level.
“We are proud to support organizations around the country like the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts that are doing crucial work to shift policies, systems, and practices that will have a last- ing impact on climate, health, and racial equity, and will help to create a more just planet for everyone,” said Lois DeBacker, managing director of Kresge’s Environ- ment Program, when the grant award was announced.
And Kresge isn’t the only foundation paying attention to PHIWM’s work. Earlier this month, the institute was awarded a two-year grant of $160,000 from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation to work with the Live Well Springfield Coalition to foster
an age-friendly ecosystem and health- equity approach to policies and practices in Springfield and Hampden County.
The coalition will use this funding to ensure housing policies and solutions make resources accessible to all older people. The work includes collaboration with the Sheriff’s Department, criminal-justice reform advocates, housing officials, and behavioral-health providers to advance supports for older adults with criminal records to ensure housing and health ac- cess; the development of an action plan and digital toolkit to support older adults’ health at home; and an effort to recruit and train older adult resident leaders who can advocate for age-friendly best practices and initiatives. Key partners include Baystate Geriatrics, TechSpring, Baystate Neighbor- hood Health Centers, New North Citizen’s Council, Men of Color Health Awareness, the Alliance for Digital Equity, and the Age Friendly Advisory Board.
“Older people were among the hardest- hit by the pandemic,” said Nora Moreno Cargie, president of Tufts Health Plan Foundation. “These investments will sup- port community resiliency and build on what we’ve learned in the past 16 months — that collaboration across organizations and sectors strengthens communities and result in better outcomes.”
It’s a philosophy shared by PHIWM and the Live Well Springfield Climate Justice Initiative, which is why their current work to tackle climate, health, and equity issues will continue, with plenty of buy-in from the area residents, old and young alike, with the most at stake. v
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