Center on Society and Health’s Community Engagement Research Associate Alicia Aroche served as one of three panelists during the first event of a community conversation series on September 8.

The series, Building Healthier Connected Communities, is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Health and the Black History Museum. The series consists of three events–each with a slightly different focus, but all with the intention of moving the community towards a culture of health.

During the September 8 event, titled “Health Inequities: Virginia’s Plan for Wellbeing,” attendees viewed the “Place Matters” episode of the documentary “Unnatural Causes” before Aroche and her fellow panelists discussed how social determinants such as access to jobs, food insecurity, and safe and affordable housing impacts community members’ health.

Dr. Lauren Powell, Director of the Office of Health Equity, also discussed VDH’s “Virginia’s Plan for Well-Being” 2016-2020.

The next event in the Building Healthier Connected Communities, “Henrietta Lacks: How Her Cells Impact Cancer Research,” will take place November 17, 2018.