Our nation is growing in its understanding of how important community, spiritual care, and healthcare are as it relates to achieving health equity and the role of strong partnerships in the effort to improve health outcomes for those experiencing unequally disproportionate care. To highlight its continued importance as a pillar of reaching its Moonshot Goal, C-TAC continues in its community-based work to have faith-based organizations be well positioned to identify needs among their community partners and help refer them to and partner with community-based organizations and healthcare organizations.
On July 30th, 2022, C-TAC’s Louisville Community Care Project faith leaders and partners participated in Christ Cathedral of Praise Annual Summer Picnic where they provided free food, fun, giveaways, and shared resources. Elder Angela Overton, the senior advisor of C-TAC, briefly summarized the event in Louisville. Representatives of this project partners, payers, and stakeholders were present to greet the community in our effort to foster trust while providing healthcare information. Elder Overton said the event “provides space for the community to gather while meeting the immediate needs of the community”. The event also provided meals and snacks, and it offered a relaxed atmosphere for fellowship with friends, family, and neighbors of all ages.
Louisville is a community with tremendous healthcare needs and a high prevalence of serious illnesses exacerbated during COVID-19. C-TAC has been working in Louisville with Elder Overton since 2020. The shared goal is to explore strategies to integrate healthcare, social, and spiritual needs while addressing systemic racism and barriers to care in the predominantly black community. C-TAC Board Member David Jones, Jr. was in attendance and lent his experience from helping to establish the initial Louisville Pilot Project, where C-TAC created a plan with the participating faith leaders to address the lack of access to resources in the community.
In 2020, C-TAC conducted a needs assessment completed by faith leader partners for this pilot regarding the impediments to quality of life for people with serious illnesses in their communities. By no surprise, our findings attested to the fact that access to healthy nutrition, housing, reliable transportation, and the mistrust of the healthcare system contributed to reduced quality of life while facing serious illness. Based upon this needs assessment, C-TAC engaged faith leaders in this community where they were and provided tangible support, co-designed and implemented a strategic plan to focus on family caregiver support and care planning.
In December 2022, C-TAC, Sponsors & Partners will launch phase two of this project that will provide the business case for a value-based sustainable model of care via community involvement.
C-TAC is working to take this commitment towards the Strategic Plan and Moonshot Goal by bringing the spotlight to Health Equity goals and partnerships with faith leaders and their communities. If interested in the Faith Leadership programs at C-TAC, please contact Sandra Arias at SArias@thectac.org.
This equity and community-building work in Louisville is now inspiring C-TAC action on the west coast. On September 22-24 in Leimert Park in Los Angeles, CA, C-TAC will offer a multiday event – “Reimagining Health Equity and Care for Those with Serious Illness”. This is an amazing opportunity for participants to explore how JEDI principles can be applied in their work and hear from grassroots service providers about their community-centered programs.
Leimert Park is a vibrant neighborhood located in South LA. We look forward to seeing members there.
Learn more here – Reimagining Health Equity and Care for Those with Serious Illness – The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (thectac.org)
– Article Written by Jinghan (Tracy) Cui | C-TAC Marketing and Communications Intern
