Health Equity for All Symposium 2023

Advancing Latinx health justice through community engagement.

Community Award Recipients

There are many community leaders and organizations doing bioethics art the margins and serving the needs of the Massachusetts Latino community. It is a privilege to recognize their work.

Lilly Marcelin

Reslient Sisterhood Project

"We Need Health Prosperity" Award in honor of Helen Rodriguez Trias, Pediatrician and Public Health Ethicist at the margins advocating for women's reproductive rights and dignity in public health practices for minoritized communities.

Rosario Ubiera Minaya

RawArts Lynn

Cultural Keeper Award in honor of Eugenio Maria de Hostos, a cultural keeper, educator, sociologist, philosopher, and a social justice activist.

Sen. Elizabeth Miranda

2nd Suffolk District Massachusetts

La Lucha" Service Award in honor of Mujerista Theologian and Social Ethicist, Ada Maria Isasi Dias who through her liberative praxis promoted the values of social responsibility, solidarity, and social utility.

Panels

What Ethicists Can do For Racial Health Equity

Bioethicists help examine moral issues involved with our understanding of life and death and resolve ethical dilemmas at the intersections of science, technology, and society. Bioethicists have a range of responsibilities depending on their primary discipline such as conducting research, teaching, writing policies, or serving on ethics committees to name a few. The recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of having ethicist perspectives at the table, from interviews with famous ethicists such as Art Caplan to highlighting the ethical implications around vaccine development, public health communications, and racism as a public health crisis. As we continue to mobilize for racial health equity we must ponder what ethicists can do for racial health equity. This panel will feature a conversation among bioethicists who will explain how ethics allows them to advance racial health equity in their practice. Leveraging the personal and professional experiences that brought them to this specialized field, panelists will expand on what bioethicists do, who they are, and why bioethics is important for advancing racial health equity.

Cultural Institutions: Our Partners in Health Equity

Arts and culture are essential for a more just and equitable society because they promote empathy, understanding, and social cohesion. Arts can help us to see the world from different perspectives and to understand the experiences of those who are different from us. They can also help us to build bridges across cultural divides and to create a more inclusive society. However, while there is a growing emphasis on arts and culture in health equity conversations, it is often left out of mainstream racial health equity discussions. This panel expands on the role arts and cultural institutions play in advancing racial health equity from a variety of perspectives. It is especially relevant for public health professionals, arts and cultural leaders, policymakers, and community members.

An ODE to Reproductive Justice, PCOS Fireside Chat

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects nearly 5 million women of reproductive age in the United States. Although PCOS is common, it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Additionally, research studies have shown that Black and Hispanic women are disproportionately impacted by this reproductive health condition. In light of September being PCOS Awareness Month, this panel will feature an educational conversation with medical professionals who will break down the “what, who, and how” of PCOS through a discussion of symptoms, diagnosis tactics, its effects on adolescents and Black women, and resources for those looking to speak with their healthcare providers about the condition.