Time: 5pm CAT, 11am ET
Date: 17th May, 2021

The Department of Community Health and Social Medicine is committed to supporting grassroots level health action that enhances the lives of persons pushed to the margins. Community health interventions come in many forms and fashions and are often oversimplified by the people far from the work. This webinar episode is an opportunity to drill down into the nuances of implementing community health solutions in challenging and complex environments.

Inviting you to a Dynamic Discussion:

A panel of implementers will share their story of responding to chronic disease and mental health concerns among Palestinians residing in the West Bank. They will offer practical examples of community engagement, intervention rollout and evaluation, as well as address the intersection of health and social justice. The aim of this webinar episode is to provide us with key learnings about how to craft and implement community health programs, specifically in conflict-affected contexts.

Join us, for what promises to be an eye-opening experience.

REGISTER HERE

Host:

Zahirah McNatt (DrPH)

Assistant Professor and Godley-St. Goar Chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine, UGHE

Dr. Zahirah McNatt is the Godley-St. Goar Chair of the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine and Assistant Professor at the University of Global Health Equity. She also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University. Dr. McNatt has been a consultant in the areas of global health, humanitarian systems and human rights. She has more than 13 years of experience in the Middle East, East Africa, the Americas & Southeast Asia, working on health systems strengthening in partnership with governments — and research in humanitarian settings. Dr. McNatt earned her doctorate from Mailman School of Public Health and has published in BMC Conflict & Health, the Journal of Refugee Studies, BMJ, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and PLOS ONE.

Speakers:

Dr. Bram Wispelwey

Co-founder and Chief Strategist of Health for Palestine, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Bram Wispelwey is Co-founder and Chief Strategist of Health for Palestine, a community organizing initiative in Palestinian refugee camps that seeks to maximize wellness and address health barriers via social accompaniment and creative integration with existing facilities. He is an Associate Physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Bram’s research, implementation, and writing focuses on anti-racist strategies to address hospital admission inequities, community health worker impact, and settler colonial determinants of health. Before the start of his medical career, he pursued LGBT-rights activism, which informs his health approach at the bedside and in advocacy. Bram is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity and leads Partners in Health’s US technical support to more than 15 departments of health at city, county, and state levels, assisting the development of testing, contact tracing, and vaccination systems to make Covid-19 responses more comprehensive and equitable. 

Sarah Al Azzah

Community Health Worker, Aida & Azza Camp, Health for Palestine

Sarah Al-Azza is a Palestinian refugee originally from Beit Jibrin, who was born and grew up in Al-Azza Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. She is currently studying Arabic language education at Bethlehem University. She works with Health for Palestine as a community health worker in the Lajee Center’s Health Unit. She also teaches a literacy class for elderly women in Aida and Al-Azza Refugee Camps.