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We Can Do Better: 2016 Conference September 14, 2016
Posted by hannah.cherry
Building a Foundation Towards Health
We Can Do Better will hold our 8th Annual Conference on September 14, 2016 at the Portland Art Museum Grand Ballroom.
The 2016 WCDB conference will explore health and wellness in three focal points: trauma, homelessness, employment and their interconnections.
These themes support Oregon’s identification of critical areas of need. Communities struggle with unique challenges that affect the ability to function and access societal supports.
The conference will follow and engage populations impacted by these focal points and those who serve them. We will look across levels of attainment to gain an authentic understanding of the realistic stories, needs, resources, innovative policy possibilities and programs being developed.
We will begin at the most primal physiological level of securing food and shelter. We will then illustrate to the audience the benefits of progression upward through the hierarchy of needs. A final indicator of achieving holistic wellness is the ability to participate in self-actualization, advocacy and civic engagement.
We bring people together who share the values of better health care and health for all. Past conferences have outlined the Triple Aim, how we can work towards health equity, the impact of music and the arts on health and shaped our current work on exciting projects such as Open Notes and Choosing Wisely. When we work together in common cause, we build strong support for better public policies, and each year Oregon’s policies have moved forward because of you. This year’s conference will help us define the “next” goal, pushing the envelope to encompass the breadth of policies that impact our health. The conference will be interactive, engaging and will leave you with ideas of how we can do better.
Featured Speakers
Alisha Moreland-Capuia, M.D., is co-founder of The Capuia Foundation and chief medical director for Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon. Frequently tapped to advise on matters of medicine, public health and education, she serves on several boards to include: Trustee on the Oregon Historical Society Board, a recent appointee to the Oregon Health Policy Board Healthcare Workforce Subcommittee, appointed by Mayor Charlie Hales to the Community Oversight Advisory Board (COAB), which is a board that oversees the Department of Justice’s mandated reform for the Portland Police Bureau, I Have a Dream Oregon, and is a former appointee to the Governor’s Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs.
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury will be the lunch speaker at this year’s conference. Chair Kafoury will address mental health, addictions and homelessness issues and solutions in Multnomah County.
Also speaking will be Representative Joe Gallegos (D-30). Rep. Gallegos was key in implementing HB 4002, the trauma informed education bill. A bill developed to provide a statewide plan by school districts and education service districts to implement trauma-informed policies and practices.
We will hear from various Oregon non-profits and agencies who are leaders working on the intersections of health, mental health homelessness and employment including:
- Healing Trauma Project– Eugene, OR
- Central City Concern– Portland, OR
- Cornerstone Community Housing-Eugene, OR
- Deschutes County School Based Health Center– Bend, OR
- Community Supported Shelters– Eugene, OR
- And many more…
We depend on our sponsors and donors to help us create enough scholarships for everyone who would like to attend, allowing them to pay a rate they can afford.
Please support our scholarship fund
Conference Sponsorship Opportunities
We Can Do Better is excited to continue our work on OpenNotes and expand our work to support the national effort with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. We Can Do Better will not only be working to expand OpenNotes in Oregon thanks to support from the Oregon Health Authority Office of Health Information Technology, we will be working on national initiatives to allow vulnerable populations access to the transparency OpenNotes allows.
In April we were in Idaho to spark interest in OpenNotes much like we did in Oregon in 2013. We also presented at the OCHIN Learning Forum for safety net organizations from 19 states. In June we represented OpenNotes at the Red Hat Summit for the preview of The Open Patient short film.We continue to convene the Allies for a Healthier Oregon and were proud to have had State Representative Mitch Greenlick share insights of the 2016 legislative session at our April meeting and Zeke Smith of the Oregon Health Policy Board at our June meeting. Our July meeting focused on the implications for health care in Oregon if Measure 97 passes or does not pass with speakers Alberto Moreno, Executive Director of Oregon Latino Health Coalition and A Better Oregon supporter and Dr. Colin Cave from Defeat the Tax weighing in. Please join us September 13 for updates from the Oregon Healthiest State campaign, Oral Health Care Access OHA Medicaid Advisory Council and the Oregon Women’s Foundation. October 11 we will have a panel discussion on the Future of CCO’s in Oregon. Contact our AHO Coordinator for more information.
Take good care,
Amy Fellows
Executive Director, MPH
P.S. We Can Do Better is a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are eligible for tax deduction.