Earlier this month, Prevea Health announced that they created and filled a new position on their staff, which they call the Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion.
Reita Robinson filled that role, and Seehafer News was able to speak with her via video conferencing. The first thing Robinson explained was what exactly her job entails. She explained that her job is to address the issues that arise with people receiving different levels of health care based on a variety of factors. “We know that there is some concurrent research that is saying a broad range of people groups, and other populations are having different experiences, that are limiting the quality of health care experiences that they are having here in the greater Green Bay area,” Robinson explained. “This position is an attempt to address those things, and look at social determinants of health, and look at how we can respond in a way that gives people a better opportunity to live healthily.”
Robinson wanted to clarify as well, that the “people groups” she is referring to is not based on race or religion, but rather other social determinants, such as “housing and access to good healthcare to wellness scores, whether they have parks within walking distance, transportation, just a number of things that impact the quality of their health experiences here in Green Bay.” Some of the biggest determinants are income and education, which is the first thing that Robinson intends to address.
“What we are doing is starting with education,” Robinson told SeehaferNews.com.
“We want to have the facts about what is true about access and the experiences people are having. As we are mining the data and we are looking at health behaviors, such as tobacco use, diet and exercise, and alcohol use, we want to make sure that people have the facts, so that we have a good understanding of the coloration and the cause and effects of where people end up.” Robinson came to Prevea from the Young Women’s Christian Association, where she was doing similar work, and mentioned that this kind of work is a true passion for her.
