The HPP Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Keon Gilbert is in conversation with Dr. Darrell Hudson. Dr. Hudson's research aims to better understand why Black Americans do not get the same health returns that are associated with upward social mobility as White Americans. They help distinguish between historical and contemporary racism, and they also unpack hyper-vigilance and the anticipatory stress and expectations that come from negative racist experiences. They encourage us to think about the permanence of racism and its impact on stress and wealth.

“We try to frame our results in a way that shows youth can not only identify the things that are happening in their lives, but they also have the power and knowledge, and they have the tools within them to be able to start addressing these issues.”

In this episode, Saharra L. Dixon the use of photovoice and community mapping to examine structural violence’s impact on historically excluded youth’s lived experiences. Using an Arts and Cultural in Public Health framework, she analyzes ways in which structural racism functions as contributes to adolescent sexual and reproductive health inequities.

“I saw mentoring from a new perspective because I was able to just be totally honest with them. I think that's onething that I kind of learned is that being honest helped them the most. So, telling them that, hey, when I first went to a conference as a grad student, I was so nervous, and I had imposter syndrome around every corner and that thatstill does creep up; like admitting that and being honest about it. But then also telling them that I've figured out ways to manage that.”  -Rebecca Rich

In preparation for the 2025 SOPHE Annual Conference, Rebecca Rich, Liz Rivera, Aspen Goolsby, and SidneyGonzalez-DiGenio share their reflections on the 2024 SOPHE Annual Conference and National Case Study Competition in Health Education. They are the authors of “We Don’t Get Anywhere Alone: Reflections on the 2024 SOPHE Conference as a Full Circle Moment.” Additionally, Tom Webb, the Director of Development for SOPHE, shares what conference attendees can expect at the 2025 AnnualConference to be held in Long Beach, CA. Listeners can hear stories of hope, triumph, and success in this episode which highlights the importance of mentoring in the health education profession.

“Period poverty is defined as the lack of an ability to access period products, but also not just period products, other things such as hygiene management like running water and resources andeducation on period management. So, it's not just the physical products themselves that you're unable to access, but also other things that surround menstruation like education and hygiene management things.” -Isabel Cava

In observance of Women’s History Month, Purdue alumna, Megan Morley and Isabel Cava, authors of “Addressing Period Poverty: Evaluating a Free Period Product Program in a University Setting” discuss theirfirst publication in Health Promotion Practice. Morley and Cava share insights on their work with college students, the components of their intervention, and findings and implications of their work. They share their hopes and aspirations, and the impact they hope this work will have on current and futurewomen.

“For me, my research, I can sum it up in eight words in four steps: Sit less; move more; feel better; live longer.”

In observance of Black History Month, Dr. LaTerica Thomas, an HBCU alumna and author of “Facilitators and Barriers to Performing Workplace Physical Activity to Relieve Stress at the Florida Department of Health.” Dr. Thomas shares the context and priorities regarding her dissertation study, which led to this publication, her first in Health Promotion Practice. Tips for those who oversee worksite health promotion programs, supervisors, and employees are divulged in this episode.

“If we want to reach those societies or reach those populations, we definitely need to have others’ blended approach of having both the clinic and the community organizations working together.”

"The way that people talk about immigrants in the news media affects those internalized stereotypes and, also, real fears that construct or limit somebody's mobility."

In this episode, Dr. Mario Alberto Viveros Espinoza-Kulick and Dr. Alex Espinoza-Kulick explore how the news media impacts the content and context of health access and decision-making among Latinx immigrant and Indigenous communities. They remind us that we need more immigration policies that center the health, well being, and dignity of migrant communities. Their research emphasizes the interconnectedness of immigration policy and public health, urging policymakers to evaluate immigration laws based on their impact on the health of communities, especially immigrant and Indigenous peoples.

“Language justice shifts the responsibility from the person to the system.”

Author Maya I. Ragavan shares best practices for including people who use languages other than English in research. She highlights how language justice can be a barrier to achieving health equity and exacerbates health disparities in these populations. The six core pillars required to achieve language justice are expounded upon in this episode.

“The reality is that there are power differentials between a student, a junior scholar and a full professor, or between a medical assistant, a patient, and a physician. But recognizing those power dynamics, if you are in a position of power, really using your privilege, your position as a gatekeeper to speak up and intervene or to give platform to folks that may have less access to power to intervene.”- Khadijah Ameen

Drs. Khadijah Ameen and Collins Airhihenbuwa share their work on how to expand how we think about bystanders and perpetrators of racial violence, and how bystander behavioural approaches can be used to intervene. They bring in antiracism frameworks such as the Public Health Critical Race Praxis and the PEN-3 Cultural Model to illustrate their points using some antiracism bystander intervention scenarios.

“Content creation is, in fact, their unique expertise.”-Emily S. Miller

Alex Michel and Emily S. Miller share the findings of their scoping review to uncover the relationship between public health entities and social media influencers to advance public health causes. They provide practical tips on how best to foster relationships with social media influencers, and how to implement and evaluate social media influencer campaigns.

“Language justice shifts the responsibility from the person to the system.”

Author Maya I. Ragavan shares best practices for including people who use languages other than English in research. She highlights how language justice can be a barrier to achieving health equity and exacerbates health disparities in these populations. The six core pillars required to achieve language justice are expounded upon in this episode.

“An increasing number of patients are utilizing federally qualified health care centers every year and given the target population of those who are probably most at need or have been kind of historically underserved, they also, unfortunately, disproportionately experience behavioral health challenges. So, it kind of leads to this situation where there's really high behavioral health needs amongst patients serviced by federally qualified health centers.”

Authors Kelsey S. Dickson and Tana Holt share how they applied the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Health Equity Implementation framework to conduct a needs and context assessment to inform the development and testing of evidence-based practice strategies and implementation support as part of a care coordination program within a partnered Federally Qualified Health Center. They share their methodology, key findings, and recommendations for improving the postpartum outcomes of this population. The authors share how care coordination was enhanced and offer a glimpse into the next phase of this research.

“Women in the postpartum period need things, right? I think that there's still a major gap, even though we know if you're in maternal health, you know, over and over again that there's not enough that exists for women in the postpartum period—and that's where the majority of pregnancy related deaths happen.”

In this episode, Morgan V. Davis, Kaitlyn Hernandez-Spalding, Rasheeta Chandler, and Natalie Hernandez-Green discuss their recent scoping review which examined the perceptions and use of mHealth in postpartum Black Women. They share their methodology, key findings, and recommendations for improving the postpartum outcomes of this population.

“We try to frame our results in a way that shows youth can not only identify the things that are happening in their lives, but they also have the power and knowledge, and they have the tools within them to be able to start addressing these issues.”

In this episode, Saharra L. Dixon the use of photovoice and community mapping to examine structural violence’s impact on historically excluded youth’s lived experiences. Using an Arts and Cultural in Public Health framework, she analyzes ways in which structural racism functions as contributes to adolescent sexual and reproductive health inequities.

“We wanted to show people kind of like a simple way how the arts and cultural experiences can be related to public health practice and the other way around.”

First published in Season 03 Episode 36:

In this episode, Cynthia Begay is in conversation with Dr. Diane McEachern and Lauren White about their research in rural northwest Alaska Native villages on the quantities, types, sources, and frequency of support that Alaska Native youth and young adults had. They discuss the impact of colonization on education, and they reaffirm the existing support that occurs in Native communities. Furthermore, they offer ways that research can be more nuanced for Native communities to perhaps better measure support for males, use traditional milestone markers instead of age, pivot away from Western terms like informal and formal supports, and focus on involving the whole community.

In this episode, Dr. Noreen Michael, Hilary Lohmann, Leia LaPlace, Nate Kelly, Dr. Laverne Ragster and Gloria Callwood are in conversation about how the U.S. Virgin Islands demonstration projects have evolved and will continue to develop. They discuss the priorities identified in the 2022 Walkability SUMMIT, the role of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, and the Comprehensive Land and Water Use plan.

In this episode, Mark Fenton, Dr. Haley Cash, John Orr, and Cari Molin are in conversation about walkability in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They remind us that changes to the environment and cultural norms can facilitate changes in behavior, particularly when using a Complete Streets approach. By collecting baseline data, they were able to advocate for change and show the effectiveness of the crosswalk installation.

In this episode, Dr. Whitney Nesser helps us explore intergenerationology, the study of the circular movement between generations and what that movement means. They hope that reciprocal learning will help cultivate empathy and understanding between each generation’s definitions of who they are and what it means to be in society with each other.

In this episode, Dr. Carlos Mahaffey is in conversation with Dr. Stacy Smallwood and Dr. Fayth Parks. They discuss excavating archaic ideas that are entrenched in misinformation and unfounded rationalizations around HIV and AIDS. They remind us of the multiple behavioral theories and communication avenues we will need to use to demystify and provide more accurate, uplifting information to help people see things differently; this includes understanding the experiences and challenges that healthcare providers working in the HIV space are facing so that we can better support them.

In this episode, HPP’s Photovoice Special Issue Editors Dr. Robin Evans-Agnew & Dr. Bob Strack are in conversation with Dr. Mary Ann Burris, a co-founder of Photovoice. They discuss the origin story of Photovoice, including Caroline Wang’s awareness of power and her mother’s influence. They explore Dr. Mary Ann Burris’s career, and they compare their own journeys to contend with the definition of change as activist scholars.

In this episode, Tara Maudrie is in conversation with Leialoha Ka‘ula and Jonathan Cruz about their project planting Kalo on the continent. They discuss their ancestral connection to Kalo and how the garden is not just a space for growing food, but it's also a way to perpetuate their culture. They explain how growing Kalo has become a metaphor for their organization; it’s reflective of their ability to adapt, be resilient, and to continue on despite the hardships that they encounter. The garden has allowed them to build a relationship with the community, other Hawaiians on the continent, and other Native communities as a way to decolonize and dismantle Western ideologies that they were forced to assimilate to.

In this episode, Dr. Cassandra Nguyen is in conversation with Dr. LaVerne Demientieff, Harleigh Moore-Wilson, and Makynna Sharp regarding their food sovereignty projects. They discussed the loss of traditional knowledge through colonization, and creating spaces for elders to reconnect and build relationships back with activities and skills to learn and share the knowledge to future generations. They explored Osage’s mobile market that aims to create new systems that are uniquely Indigenous and support ending food insecurity in their community and beyond. They also discussed growing traditional and endangered seeds for more nutritional food staples, and a return to Native produce.

“Arts and prescription is such an important model on its own, and it's also an example of what we can do when we allow ourselves to imagine that things can be different than they have been.”

In this episode, Dr. Tasha Golden discusses what “arts on prescription” is, what we’ve learned about it from research and emerging models, and why it matters for improving community and whole-person health. She encourages us to imagine what it means to have well being and what it would look like if our health care systems/providers were a part of not only that absence of disease, but the presence of well being in people's lives.

In this episode, Dr. Anji Buckner-Capone and Dr. Marcelle Dougan discuss college students' perceptions on COVID-19 vaccine mandates and their vaccine hesitancy. They remind us of the need to accessibility and trust when researching contentious topics, and their neutral language allowed students to express their polarizing views.

"We just want people who menstruate to be able to do so safely and with dignity, and we don't think that's so big of an ask."

In this episode, Dr. Allison Casola, Dr. Kierstin Luber, and Dr. Amy Henderson Riley discuss period poverty from an epidemiologic approach by considering three components: person, place, and time. They also identify policy opportunities, vulnerable populations, and the siloing of menstrual equity and reproductive education. The first step is increasing awareness, which is made easier by their glossary and other publications.

"The community health worker is under utilized, and yet can be the best glue across that continuum."

In this episode, Ysabel Duron and Dr. Manali Patel discuss the importance of community health workers (CHWs) in cancer care delivery. They talk about the unique capacity of CHW to identify the actual gaps and actual needs of patients to support and work in tandem with doctors.

"The way that people talk about immigrants in the news media affects those internalized stereotypes and, also, real fears that construct or limit somebody's mobility."

In this episode, Dr. Mario Alberto Viveros Espinoza-Kulick and Dr. Alex Espinoza-Kulick explore how the news media impacts the content and context of health access and decision-making among Latinx immigrant and Indigenous communities. They remind us that we need more immigration policies that center the health, well being, and dignity of migrant communities. Their research emphasizes the interconnectedness of immigration policy and public health, urging policymakers to evaluate immigration laws based on their impact on the health of communities, especially immigrant and Indigenous peoples.

In this episode, Dr. Melissa Valerio-Shewmaker is in conversation with Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez on her commentary that encourages us to look for upstream solutions and utilize promotoras. Dr. Ramirez also situates her approach in her own upbringing and to help us understand the barriers and disadvantages to health, as well as the need for more Latinos with advanced degrees for representation and culturally relevant care.

In this episode, Cynthia Begay is in conversation with Dr. Diane McEachern and Lauren White about their research in rural northwest Alaska Native villages on the quantities, types, sources, and frequency of support that Alaska Native youth and young adults had. They discuss the impact of colonization on education, and they reaffirm the existing support that occurs in Native communities. Furthermore, they offer ways that research can be more nuanced for Native communities to perhaps better measure support for males, use traditional milestone markers instead of age, pivot away from Western terms like informal and formal supports, and focus on involving the whole community.