May 25, 2022
“You shouldn’t do it for an additional line on your resume, 而是要联系和支持那些最需要它的人,并为那些最需要它的人提供关键的反馈.”
Ricardo A. Garay担任人口健康部门社区参与和卫生公平团队的项目经理. 他还担任戴尔医学院社区战略团队的推动者,并担任德克萨斯州中部社区卫生工作者的倡导者.
Garay was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and became interested in health disparities and community organizing at a young age. 他作为一名移民的亲身经历影响了他对健康公平和项目设计的态度. 他还继续参加社区活动和社会正义倡议,以加强他对健康的社会决定因素的看法.
Prior to joining Dell Med, 他领导了一个名为移民临床医生网络健康网络的国际患者导航项目. 他的团队致力于为全球110多个国家的急性和慢性疾病患者建立连续性护理. The program was awarded the Monroe E. 特劳特奖和美国-墨西哥边境委员会的以流动人口为中心的护理卓越边界模型奖. Locally, he participated in Community Advancement Network’s Community Council, Central Health’s Community Health Champions, 奥斯汀独立学区的近距离学院和结束社区无家可归联盟的时间点计数计划工作组.
Garay被德克萨斯州卫生服务部门认证为社区卫生工作者讲师. In addition to being a Community Health Champion, 他是全国社区卫生工作者协会和德克萨斯州促进者和社区卫生工作者协会的董事会成员. 他还在奥斯汀市的西班牙裔/拉丁裔生活质量资源咨询委员会任职.
Q: What made you want to become a Community Health Champion?
A: 我加入这个项目的兴趣是了解澳门真人赌场官方网站提供的项目和服务. I really wanted to get a better understanding of their network, their mission, their values and also learn more about health initiatives in Central Texas in general. That’s really what drew me in initially.
Q: How was the experience of being a Community Health Champion compared to your expectations?
A: 这是一个非常好的问题,因为我认为我在这个项目中得到了很多,因为我在学习和与团队的联系上投入了很多. 我也很感激这样一个事实,即参与活动使我能够提出困难的问题,参与非常复杂的对话,以一种诚实而有力的方式参与有关卫生公平的对话. 我真的很惊讶,这些对话得到了庆祝,这是一个可以进行这些讨论的空间.
Q: Was there anything interesting or surprising about your experience?
A: 我感兴趣的一件事是能够与其他社区领导人联系,他们也投入并致力于学习更多, in a humble way, about health disparities, about health equity, about the history of healthcare in Austin. I was really surprised that there were very meaningful connections, to this day, that I was able to make in that cohort. 遇到和我一样关心这些问题的人是非常有趣的.
Q: What did you gain personally from your experience?
A: 我认为我得到的最大收获是一个由从事这项工作的人组成的网络,一个相互信任的网络,以及对澳门银河真人在线赌场的更好理解, and different projects and initiatives. Being a part of this group was something that was very powerful to me. I was also appreciative that some of my feedback was incorporated into future sessions. For example, the health equity training that these cohorts now receive is a recommendation that I had made, 我很高兴澳门真人赌场官方网站致力于为这些群体提供健康公平培训. 我认为在讨论德克萨斯州中部发生的事情时使用共同的语言是非常有价值的.
问:你对正在考虑成为社区卫生倡导者的人有什么建议?
A: I would say to commit to the program, 致力于建立联系,为德克萨斯州中部最需要的人提供更好的服务. 我认为问一些结构性的问题,进行困难而勇敢的对话是非常重要的. You shouldn’t do it for an additional line on your resume, 而是要联系和支持那些最需要它的人,并为那些最需要它的人提供关键的反馈. I think having an equity lens is incredibly important to join, I think having an anti-racist perspective is also an important thing to bring to the table, and just a general commitment to serve a general community.
Q: How did being a Community Health Champion influence your work for healthcare equity?
A: It has made me understand different systems in Central Texas, how they work. It has also given me a better understanding of some of the barriers and challenges, but also some of the opportunities that lie in front of us. 我认为,能够花时间与从事这项工作的同事们在一起,也帮助我在他们所做的工作中建立了联系,并建立了团结,使我能够联系起来,更好地为患者服务.
我对这一切的发展感到兴奋,我真的认为澳门真人赌场官方网站组织这样的团体聚会和庆祝是一件好事. My experience was very positive.
社区健康冠军是一年一度的中央健康计划,汇集了来自特拉维斯县的不同社区成员来学习, discuss, and collaborate on our work to improve the health of Central Texas.
Through a five-month workshop series, 参与者将了解特拉维斯县低收入居民的澳门银河真人在线赌场系统,以及澳门真人赌场官方网站及其合作伙伴如何共同解决健康差距问题.
健康捍卫者面临的挑战是,他们要跳出个人现实,成为自己所在社区获得澳门银河真人在线赌场和公平的倡导者.