Community, Connection, and Action: Public Health in the Rockies
October 16th, 2023 | event
JSI sponsored the largest public health conference in the Western US, Public Health in the Rockies Conference which took place in Keystone, Colorado from September 21 through 23. The theme this year was Public Health: Community, Connection & Action. Public Health in the Rockies (PHiR) advances the work of the Colorado Public Health Association (CPHA) to transform the health and well-being of Coloradans. This year, the PHiR planning committee welcomed Wyoming’s public health community and colleagues to PHiR as partners and collaborators.
Community
As one of the largest affiliates of the American Public Health Association, CPHA meaningfully engages 1800+ professionals and students to make a lasting impact on public health in the state. Nearly 700 public health professionals and community members from Colorado, Wyoming, and several surrounding states came together to participate, collaborate, and learn from one another about core public health priorities and projects.
Connection
At the JSI-sponsored exhibit booth staff shared with over 150 conference attendees JSI’s current projects in the Western region of the U.S. and about JSI’s Colorado and Wyoming-specific projects. Denver-based JSI staff were thrilled to connect and share our work to advance community health efforts in Colorado and Wyoming with conference attendees.
JSI staff shared with attendees information about several Colorado and Wyoming-based projects, including the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment QI Coaching and Training to support implementing Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment in School-Based Health Centers, Denver Native Healing COVID-19 Relief Fund Project, the City and County of Denver Community Services Block Grant Needs Assessment, and the Development and Retainment of CHC MA Workforce project. We also shared information about JSI’s national initiatives, including the Reproductive Health National Training Center and the new Kaiser Permanente Population Health Management Initiative.
If you attended the conference, we hope you picked up one of the JSI foldable tote bags. They were a popular exhibitor booth item!
Action
Julia Foley, a Denver-based Project Associate, presented with our partner at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (Colorado Medicaid), Cesar Zatarain, on JSI’s HB22-1289 Community Engagement for Cover All Coloradans project. Cover All Coloradans is a new program, passed under House Bill 22-1289, that expands Medicaid and CHP+ access to undocumented pregnant people and children. JSI was contracted by the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to conduct community engagement as the State anticipates a roll out of this program in January of 2025. The presentation was titled, “Community Ambassador Programs: Centering and Uplifting Community Voices and Organizations through “Cover All Coloradans” Engagement”.
This project focused on developing a robust statewide Community Ambassador Program (CAP) partnering with 11 Community-Based Organizations in 13 Colorado counties centering language justice The presentation allowed attendees to learn about key elements in creating a CAP focused on engaging historically marginalized communities and creating equitable partnerships to elevate community voices, identifying best practices for working with interpreters and translators towards building language justice into an inclusive and equity CAP, and understanding the barriers and challenges to creating equitable and inclusive CAPs.
