The Ochsner-Xavier Institute for Health Equity and Research has a plan based on five guiding principles for improving the health of everyone in Louisiana.
Our community projects aim to help our friends, neighbors, and patients feel confident about improving their physical and mental health. We offer support through education, health check-ups, technology, and care. Success for us means seeing more people say, "I want to be healthier," perhaps for the first time.
OXIHER serves as a resource to inform change in support of high-risk populations. By providing education and engaging with the community, OXIHER seeks to reduce the health outcomes differences between communities in Louisiana and improve overall health. Together with Healthy State, OXIHER has prioritized the following areas for change:
- Women's and maternal health
- Food security
- Workforce development and education
- Obesity, cancer, and chronic conditions
- Smoking cessation
- Broadband internet access
Population health focuses on keeping a whole community or group of people healthy, rather than just focusing on one person at a time. It looks at things like how common diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity are, what people are eating, where they live, and how much exercise they get. By studying these factors, health experts can figure out what problems a community might have and how to fix them. OXIHER serves as a leading catalyst and driver for health outcomes improvement initiatives.
In our research studies, inclusivity helps make our findings more useful and relevant to everyone in our community. By working together, our research includes everyone and focuses on what our communities really need. It also allows people to share resources, ideas, and best practices, leading to better solutions that can reduce health differences. By teaming up, researchers can create plans that are more likely to offer everyone a fair chance to be healthy, no matter where they come from.
Our featured partners are:
OXIHER aims to improve the healthcare landscape by offering education and training programs that prepare students, from various backgrounds, for high wage, high demand jobs. This includes partnerships with community colleges to offer upskilling programs to healthcare workers. Early career awareness initiatives and STEM education provide school-age students with the chance to consider future careers in science and public health. To truly address the social determinants of health and build trust between patients and those who care for them, we must ensure that our workforce displays cultural humility, awareness, and understanding.
