Stanford Physicians Launch Office of Child Health Equity
A team of researchers at Stanford Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics recently launched the Office of Child Health Equity to act as a unified force across pediatric departments and push for changes in California laws and regulations related to child health.
Before the Office of Child Health Equity, a previous pediatric advocacy program had already existed at Stanford, a program that used community engagement and education to promote child health equity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused issues like disruption of learning and lost parents, Stanford has decided to renew their commitment to policy advocacy and equity by expanding the program into an official office that will string together members from the entire pediatrics department.
Research from the Urban Institute shows that the number of Americans aged 65 and older will more than double over the next 40 years, reaching 80 million by 2040, and researchers from the Office of Child Health Equity will be prioritizing the protection of resources for children.
Currently, the team is working on several projects relating to food insecurity in the San Joaquin Valley, and working on the creation of scholarship communities for faculty across different disciplines to participate in community engagement and advocacy. In January, the Office of Child Health Equity will launch a seminar of health leaders to discuss children’s health in relation to topics like climate change. An analytics team will also be working to interpret research findings in the context of lived experiences within low-income communities and communities of color to better understand the needs of the local populations.
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