G-2109-17199

The Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy focuses on improving a community’s social determinants of health through research, intervention and policy change.

This investment, through the Executive Director’s Fund, is to support the Illinois Rural Health Virtual Summit, which is a free virtual event focused on health equity issues, presented by the SIU School of Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy. The summit is a series of webinars scheduled monthly through January 2022. The project aims to improve health equity in rural and underserved communities in Illinois, and engages community members, discusses challenges and opportunities to address them. Some topics include mental health, nutrition and fitness, children’s growth and development, rural workforce, etc. Rural Illinois faces healthcare provider shortages, including dentists, and the webinar on October 14th explored rural feasibility and economic impact of increasing the rural health workforce. The November webinar focuses on COVID-19 and opioids, and the December webinar focuses on healthy housing. The budget of $5,000 would be used to host, produce, and promote the webinar, provide technical support, obtain speakers, and facilitate the panel discussion.