The American Birthright Public Engagement Campaign is Taking Off!

American Birthright (scheduled for release in Spring 2013) grows out of our work with UNNATURAL CAUSES: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?.

It's often said a society can be measured by how well it attends to its children. So how is it that children in the U.S. have worse outcomes on most measures of health, education and well-being than other rich nations?  

Join the American Birthright Public Engagement Campaign to reframe the debate about what we as a society can - and should - do so every infant in America can grow up in the rich and caring environments children need to thrive.

Use the forthcoming American Birthright documentary and multimedia tools to support your organization's work and spark exploration, discussion and action because a nurturing child ecology is not only the right of every infant, it's the cornerstone for a healthier, stronger and more equitable future for our nation.

Initial Campaign Partners:

• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP) 
• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) 
• Center for Social Inclusion 
• Center for the Study of Social Policy 
• Child Welfare League of America  
• Every Child Matters Education Fund  
• First 5 California 
• Forum for Youth Investment 
• Futures without Violence 
• Health Policy Institute, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies 
• National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA)  
• National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) 
• National Healthy Start Association 
• Nemours  
• Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership 
• The Praxis Project 
• SparkAction 
• Voices for America's Children 
• ZERO TO THREE   

Visit www.americanbirthrightmedia.org to learn more and to join the Public Engagement Campaign.

Unnatural Causes: Ask the Experts

Following the PBS broadcast of UNNATURAL CAUSES, we solicited questions from the public about racial and socioeconomic inequities in health.

We received many questions on a variety of interesting topics. Since no one person could possibly address them all, we divided our experts into six forums. Many of the questions and answers touched on overlapping themes and ideas (some questions were repeated), so we encourage you to explore multiple forums for different perspectives on the issues.

Read the transcripts and download podcasts from the experts >

Unnatural Causes: New Lesson Plans Available

The California Newsreel posted two new lesson plans:

• The first helps students identify common “frames” in news stories and learn how to critique health reporting.

• The Boston Public Health Commission has developed a comprehensive Youth Companion Guide for using Unnatural Causes in both after school and classroom settings. The Guide is currently being integrated into civics, health, social studies, history, and science courses in many of Boston's public schools.

Download our “Applying an Equity Lens to Health Reporting” lesson and Boston’s Youth Companion Guide from our For Educators page

Sacred Heart Center Film screening: "Unnatural Causes, is Inequality making us sick?"

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 7:00pm
Sacred Heart Center
1400 Perry St.
Richmond, VA 23224

We will be watching the first section of this film which focuses on the relation between wealth disparities and health disparities. The movie will be followed by a discussion facilitated by Susan Triggs, from the Virginia Department of Health.

Description of the film:

What are the connections between healthy bodies, healthy bank accounts and skin color? Our opening episode travels to Louisville, Kentucky, not to explore whether medical care cures us but to see why we get sick in the first place, and why patterns of health and illness reflect underlying patterns of class and racial inequities.

The lives of a CEO, a lab supervisor, a janitor, and an unemployed mother illustrate how class shapes opportunities for good health. Those on the top have the most access to power, resources and opportunity – and thus the best health. Those on the bottom are faced with more stressors – unpaid bills, jobs that don’t pay enough, unsafe living conditions, exposure to environmental hazards, lack of control over work and schedule, worries over children – and the fewest resources available to help them cope

***The movie will be in English with Spanish Subtitles.***

PBS will Rebroadcast Unnatural Causes Nationally on four Fridays at 10 PM Beginning October 9, 2009

However, local PBS stations are free to run it when they wish.

You can contact Program or Viewer Services at your local PBS station and ask them if they will schedule the series at the PBS national feed or another time during October.

For a station directory, visit mediaengage.org

For a press release you can forward to friends and colleagues publicizing the rebroadcast, go to http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/press_area.php

Interactivities to Help You Learn about Health Inequities

The Unnatural Causes website features seven learn-by-doing experiences to help you discover the underlying causes of health inequities in the U.S.

1. YoYo Health - Half of all the health care dollars in the world are spent each year in the United States. So are we healthier as a result? If not, what do healthy countries have in common that we don’t? See how the U.S. scores in the worldwide competition for best health.
2. A Tale of Two Smokers - If you were told you had to quit smoking and lose 20 lbs., how easy would it be for you? Follow two people as they attempt to lead healthier lives, and learn how the choices you make depend on what choices are available.
3. The Perfect Neighborhood - What comes to mind when you think of a healthy neighborhood? What does it take to make a neighborhood more healthy? Find out why conditions in some communities might be less favorable to health than others and what can be done to change them.
4. Health Equity Quiz - Test your knowledge of health equity! How does the U.S. stack up against other countries on key indicators? How do groups in the U.S. compare to one another? Are the conditions that shape our health as simple as what we eat, what’s in our genes, and whether or not we have good medical care?
5. The Last Mile - We all want to live a long, happy life. So how can we improve outcomes and change unequal social conditions? Play this fill-in-the-blank game to spell out a vision for the long term and learn about policy ideas along the way.
6. Accumulating Advantage - How do racism and class status get under the skin? How simple is it to just "brush off" experiences with racism? Try this exercise to measure what you are able to take for granted (or not) in your life, and learn how these relate to health.