June 2020

Common Ground and coalitions affirm racism is a public health crisis

Common Ground Health, the African American and Latino health coalitions and the Healthi Kids Coalition stand with Black residents and other partners in acknowledging that racism is a public health crisis. We are heartbroken by recent examples of police brutality and high COVID-19 deaths among Black residents in our community and nationally. As staff and coalition members, we know that these tragic events are not unrelated nor accidental.

Over the past two decades, Common Ground research has shown that social inequity has been killing local Black residents at a rate that is unconscionable.

Read our full statement.

New website makes it easy to find local data

Locating local health data just got easier with Common Ground Health’s new streamlined website. CommonGroundHealth.org preserves many of the resources from the previous website, but simplifies getting to the information. It also features a section for collaborative groups that Common Ground convenes with membership lists, related news and data insights.

“As the Finger Lakes region’s health research and planning organization, Common Ground wants our website to be as robust as our many data sets are,” said Wade Norwood, Common Ground’s CEO. “The new site ensures that partners and the public can easily access research and analysis on the region’s health.”

Learn more.

Postcards inviting people to sign up for the ROC COVID health screener were mailed this week to more than 100,000 households in Rochester. The online tool helps identify COVID-19 symptom hot spots and direct public health resources like testing to neighborhoods at risk. Regional communications are also being developed. ROC COVID covers Allegany, Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates counties. Sign up at RocCOVID.org.

New PPE posters available for download

Three new posters are available for download on the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when caring for COVID-19 positive patients.

The PPE procedures were reviewed and approved by the Monroe County Long Term Care COVID-19 Collaborative Response Team, which brings together leaders from skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. The designs were adapted with permission from Emory University by Common Ground Health and are made available here for community use.

Get the posters here.

Partner spotlight:
The Rochester Education Justice Initiative

Congratulations to the University of Rochester’s Education Justice Initiative for receiving a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The funding will expand classes and other higher education opportunities for people who are or were incarcerated in the Rochester region.

“This award recognizes the life-changing work of the Rochester Education Justice team, including our dear friend and longtime African American Health Coalition member Precious Bedell,” said Wade Norwood, CEO of Common Ground. “Serving time should not be a life sentence to unemployment and poor health. This prison education initiative proves that it does not have to be.”

What we're reading:

Self-reported experiences of racial discrimination among African Americans in Upstate New York, which was published in the July 2020 edition of the Journal of Black Studies. Co-authors include African American Health Coalition member Amina Alio and our CEO, Wade Norwood. The study found that 76.2% of Blacks report experiencing racial discrimination, and Black respondents with higher levels of education and income were more likely to experience on-the-job discrimination.

The New York Times reported on June 17 on a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on how race-based risk and outcome calculations built into medical decision-making tools may disadvantage black patients.

Overloaded report honored with PR award

Congratulations to Tipping Point Communications for winning a Public Relations Society of America Rochester Chapter Not-for-Profit Award of Excellence for "Overloaded: The Heavy Toll of Poverty on our Region’s Health.” The 2019 Common Ground Health report documents how poverty throughout our region drive health inequities that undermine wellness. These inequities cut lives short more than any other single cause of illness, costing the region more than $1 billion annually.

In the headlines

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Check your phone: Daily texts let you take part in COVID-19 symptom tracking project Related: Livingston County News, University of Rochester

The Chronicle of Social Change In New York, hundreds of 3-year-olds with disabilities are on the brink of losing services

Thriving Forward Podcast with Healthi Kids' Erick Stephens

WXXI News Protest during a pandemic? Leaders say it can be good for public health in the long term Related: WXXI News

Minority Reporter Knowing COVID-19 facts is part of staying safe

Rochester Business Journal Summer meals program to be expanded

June 2020 Common Ground Newsletter

June 2020

Partner spotlight: The Rochester Education Justice Initiative

In the headlines

Archives

Partner spotlight:
The Rochester Education Justice Initiative