Using the Roots of Health Inequity: An Interview with Public Health Nurse Jennifer Weitzel

Nov 13, 2015 | NacchoVoice

Jennifer Weitzel, MS, RN

Jennifer Weitzel, MS, RN

By Tiffany J. Huang, MPH, Program Analyst, Assessment and Planning

NACCHO’s Roots of Health Inequity Web-based course offers a learning opportunity for public health practitioners, partners, and students to explore health inequities. How can local health departments use the course? We interviewed Jennifer Weitzel, MS, RN, a public health nurse at Public Health Madison & Dane County in Wisconsin, to hear about her health department’s experience.

How are you using the Roots of Health Inequity course in your health department?

Our health department hosts student interns from across disciplines and levels, from bachelor’s-level nursing students to doctoral students. Our largest cohorts are usually during the summer. While they are typically recruited to work on a particular project, we also engage them in additional activities that, until recently, I facilitated. For the past two summers, we’ve used the Roots course.

Because the interns were new to the health department, we used Units 3, 4, and 5 [on Public Health History, Root Causes, and Social Justice]. The students worked through the course on their own and posted on the online discussion boards. We then met every other week for in-person discussions on the unit content. These discussions were an informal opportunity to debrief face-to-face about what they learned and how it related to what they were experiencing in the health department and in their respective fields.

We also often bring in current events that may be applicable. For instance, last summer, the New York Times published an exposé on exploitation of workers in the New York City nail salon industry. We discussed the article in terms of what they had learned in the course about the intersections between racism, sexism, and class and how they were playing out in that particular setting.

I’m a huge advocate of the course, and I also use it outside of the health department in a university course I teach on population health and health policy.

What benefits have you seen from using the course?

The feedback from students both summers was very positive. The students said that it was very informative, particularly in providing a good grounding in the underpinnings of public health practice and the historical perspective—how public health started in social justice, activism, and policy work, then shifted to an individual-level focus rooted in the biomedical paradigm, and is now coming back full circle to its social justice roots.

Our goal is to prepare a competent public health workforce moving forward. This is something we hope can plant the seed in students and open them up to what addressing root causes means. Our hope is that by introducing these concepts here and seeing it in action at a local health department, they can take that forward in whatever setting they work in.

What recommendations do you have for other health departments interested in the course?

I would encourage them not to be intimidated by the volume of information. The course is very robust and contains so many activities, discussions, and supplemental readings. Go in and use the parts applicable to you, or take it in small pieces—don’t feel like you need to move through it at any particular pace. I would also recommend having smaller groups that stay constant over time. Because the course really gets at the root causes of health inequities, which can be difficult, sensitive topics, I think you need to build that trust within a group to have meaningful conversations moving through the course. So I would recommend small cohorts that participate online but have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with a facilitator who’s well-versed in equity discussions.


To learn more about NACCHO’s Roots of Health Inequity course, visit http://rootsofhealthinequity.org/.


About NacchoVoice

More posts by NacchoVoice

Related Posts

Ps24 posters d3 web

Day Three Highlights: 2024 Preparedness Summit

See highlights from day three of the 2024 Preparedness Summit.

Mar 27, 2024

Day Three Highlights: 2024 Preparedness Summit

D2 highlights web

Day Two Highlights: 2024 Preparedness Summit

See highlights from day two of the 2024 Preparedness Summit.

Mar 26, 2024

Day Two Highlights: 2024 Preparedness Summit

I Stock 1182682774
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
  • Behavioral Health
  • Community Health
  • Injury and Violence Prevention

Seeking LHD Participants for an Intersectional Data...

With support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NACCHO is...

Mar 26, 2024 | Camille Adams

Seeking LHD Participants for an Intersectional Data...

PS24 1

Day One Highlights: 2024 Preparedness Summit

See highlights from day one of the 2024 Preparedness Summit.

Mar 25, 2024

Day One Highlights: 2024 Preparedness Summit

PS24 web
  • Tools & Resources
  • Training

Welcome to the 2024 Preparedness Summit!

Welcome to the 2024 Preparedness Summit.

Mar 25, 2024 | Beth Hess

Welcome to the 2024 Preparedness Summit!

Stakeholder Conference Call on the FDA Integrated Food...

You’re invited to join the call on April 2 to hear more.

Mar 25, 2024

Stakeholder Conference Call on the FDA Integrated Food...

Cover and Spine for MAPP 2 0 Handbook Copy Page 1
  • Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP)
  • Performance Improvement
  • Workforce Development

Register to Attend a Mobilizing for Action through...

Registration is now open for NACCHO’s in-person Mobilizing for Action through...

Mar 23, 2024 | Andrea Grenadier

Register to Attend a Mobilizing for Action through...

Capitol bulding

Congress Releases Labor-HHS Bill in Final FY2024 Package

Early on March 21st, Congress released the final minibus package for Fiscal...

Mar 22, 2024 | Victoria Van de Vate

Congress Releases Labor-HHS Bill in Final FY2024 Package

Website New Episode w Special Guests
  • Press Release

National Association of County and City Health...

Local Public Health on the Hill Recap and Local Health Department Addresses the...

Mar 22, 2024

National Association of County and City Health...

Back to Top