Fifteen finalists announced for the 2025 UCLA Health Equity Challenge
While LA County currently offers several employment-based re-entry services, they are all siloed and fragmented, each with their own requirements and conditions, making these services difficult to navigate. However, our pilot with ISLAH LA would be the first to integrate employment and behavioral health support within a peer-group environment in a trusted community-based setting.
I have always aspired to become a physician because I believe that doctors not only save lives but also have the power to transform lives and give people hope. However, after listening to the stories of my patients, I realized that I wanted to do something greater. I wanted to make a positive impact on my community.
I’m thankful to the Health Equity Challenge for allowing me to develop my leadership skills apart from my medical training. This opportunity has not only allowed me to better understand the needs of my community and shown me the power of collegiality in fighting for justice, but has also equipped me with a skillset to continue pushing for health equity in my future as a physician, both within and outside of the hospital.
Nationally, the percentage of Latinas who exclusively breastfeed for at least 6 months is low compared to other U.S. mothers according to data from the CDC. Two main reasons for low EBF among Latinas are the conflicting EBF information and lack of resources/support. Growing up, my mother and the other women in my family had similar struggles.
My mother has now been a farmworker for over 18 years in the Central Valley of California. Her jobs have ranged from seamstress in Downtown Los Angeles, to farmworker in Bakersfield. Helping my mother navigate the downstream consequences of her occupational exposures were the first lived experiences I had interacting with the world of public health.
Los Angeles County is a sprawl that covers 4,084 square miles and is bound by salt water, desert, mountains, and asphalt. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
“Only by restoring the broken connections can we be healed. Connection is health. And what our society does its best to disguise from us is how ordinary, how commonly
One of the most meaningful pieces of advice I received as a medical student was that “your best teacher is your patient and community.” Yes, while learning about anatomy
Growing up in Los Angeles, I remember dreading the scorching hot days of summer when even the slightest movement could leave you feeling completely drained. But what I didn't
