BY-LA 2.0 2022 Reflection

Our Louisiana Youth for Health Justice (LYHJ) Council has continued to grow this year, and we were excited to welcome new members for the 2022-2023 school year. Our vibrant group of young people will continue the work to be more involved in shaping policies that influence sexual and reproductive health and advocating for equitable change in social, racial, and reproductive justice for our community – and home state of Louisiana. Read on to see are newest LYHJ Councils members!

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Iman ShervingtonComment
Interdependence can be a strength if we work together!

St. John the Baptist Parish recently ended their debris pickup from Hurricane Ida, which made landfall in Louisiana on August 29th, 2021, the sixteenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. More than a year later, places that were badly damaged by Ida are still cleaning up and in the early stages of a long rebuilding, recovery, and healing process. Now that autumn has settled in and the worst of storm season seems to have passed, it’s important to remember that while some of us are looking ahead to the holidays many people are still displaced by the last hurricane to ravage our state. Our personal health and well-being are intimately linked with the health and well-being of our communities and the collective actions that we take, but thankfully, interdependence can be a strength if we work together!

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Iman Shervington Comment
FEATURED ARTICLE: “Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change”

This quarter we’re sharing takeaways from the article, “Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change,” which discusses how change to the climate due to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) is creating more instances and opportunities for deadly, contagious diseases worldwide. We chose this article since the COVID-19 pandemic was a sobering reality check that we cannot continue as we have. Our actions impact the environment, the climate, and each other, and if we continue to go as we have, we will also be harming ourselves. That may feel heavy, but we promise there’s some hope, so take a moment to check out the full article and start thinking about what we can do as a society to move forward.

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Iman ShervingtonComment
IWES Wins Best Conceptual/Discussion Submission at the 2022 World Social Marketing Conference

After eight hours of travel from New Orleans to Brighton, England, Iman Shervington, our Director of Media and Communications, and Petera Reine Diaban, our Sr. Social Marketing Manager, arrived at the 2022 World Social Marketing Conference (WSMC) this September. Iman and Petera attended the conference to share an innovative concept to strengthen the process of understanding the intended audience of a social marketing campaign. The duo infused the principles of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology, into the formative evaluation process of audience segmentation. Find out more about the relationship between archetypes and social marketing by checking out the full article.

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Iman ShervingtonComment
Looking Seven Generations Ahead

Climate justice and reproductive justice have become existential battlegrounds that are defining physical, mental, and spiritual health, and collective wellbeing. According to the Seventh Generation Principle of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people, the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. This ancient Principle is often applied to thinking about how to make conscious decisions about the use of natural resources, but I think this wisdom should extend to the ways that we value and care for people and relationships.

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FEATURED ARTICLE: "Adverse Childhood Experiences on Reproductive Plans and Adolescent Pregnancy in the Gulf Resilience on Women’s Health Cohort"

This quarter we’re sharing takeaways from the article, “Adverse Childhood Experiences on Reproductive Plans and Adolescent Pregnancy in the Gulf Resilience on Women’s Health Cohort,” which shows that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) influence family planning and potential adolescent pregnancies. We chose this article due to the historic moment we are living through in regards to reproductive rights and freedom, especially for women living in the American South, as we find it important to understand the circumstances, context and reality of folks’ lives to understand the decisions they may decide to make around their own health.

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Iman ShervingtonComment
Advocacy Day at the State Capitol with Youth from our Louisiana Youth for Health Justice Council!

Our Louisiana Youth for Health Justice (LYHJ) Council went to the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge in May, and we have been so excited to share more about this trip with you! If you're not familiar, the LYHJ Council is made up of passionate youth leaders from across the state who are learning to advocate for reproductive, social, and racial justice, and their visit to the state capitol was one way to help build their knowledge, experience, and skills so they can be more effective as they advocate for change. See more photos and read more about this trip and the LYHJ Council's goals here.

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Creative Approaches to Healing: Blending Social Work with Art & Play

Mary Okoth, LCSW, may be settling into her new role as the Collective for Healthy Communities (CHC) Program Manager, but she has always been weaving art, play, and nature into her role as a social worker since before she joined IWES. Luckily, there are many creative ways to incorporate into public health work, whether in therapeutic settings or out in the community. Learn why creativity and play are important tools to healing and how Mary and the social work team use them to serve their clients and the community.

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National HIV Testing Day Reminds Us that HIV Testing is Self-Care!

This year’s theme for National HIV Testing Day on June 27th was “HIV Testing is Self-Care,” which resonated with all of us here at IWES, where we emphasize the importance of taking care of one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Learn more about how keeping up with your HIV status is a part of self-care, and find out about current HIV testing options, getting and staying on treatment, connection to support, and other ways that we're here to help you on your self-care journey.

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Reflections on the GEAS Global Youth Advisory Board Summit in Bali

This past July, our Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) youth intern, Ekundayo Akinlana, had the incredible opportunity to represent New Orleans and the United States at the GEAS Global Youth Advisory Board Summit in Bali. He has worked with us in different capacities, including building his leadership skills and his research acumen, which culminated in him presenting work he did with other young people around the world. His representation and participation in the youth summit will help to shape the future of the GEAS study and its impact on youth worldwide. Read on to learn more about the GEAS Global Youth Advisory Board Summit and Dayo’s reflections.

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FEATURED ARTICLE: "Pathways to Equitable and Antiracist Maternal Mental Health Care"

As a public health organization connected to the community, we know that often some of the most interesting journal articles can be hard to find and hard to decipher without a public health background. That’s why we are happy to introduce a new section of the newsletter to share insightful articles and important data that we see coming out in the field of public health. To kick us off this quarter, we’re highlighting this insightful article “Pathways To Equitable And Antiracist Maternal Mental Health Care: Insights for Black Women Stakeholders” published in October of 2021 in Health Affairs and written and researched by Kay Matthews, Isabel Morgan, Kelly Davis, Tracey Estriplet, Susan Perez, and longtime IWES collaborator and friend, Joia A. Crear Perry.

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Creating an Education Entertainment Film for Justice-Involved Youth in the Greater N.O. Area

Our Media & Communications team has kicked off the pre-production phase of a new short film and accompanying intervention aiming to prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce the rates of STI transmission for youth involved in the justice system in the Greater New Orleans area. Through funding from the Policy & Research Group (PRG) and guidance from Sentient Research, over the last few months we've been conducting formative research to think through the topics, characters, motivations and themes that would best fit this Entertainment Education film. Read the full blog post to learn more about the process so far, how we're centering the voices of youth and adults involved with the juvenile justice system, and what to look out for in the future!

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Youth Experiences Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, Part Two

As a second phase of the work we've done in the Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS), this quarter we followed up with students to better understand how they were doing during the pandemic. While the pandemic—particularly the instability and isolation that came with it—was understandably difficult for many young people, many of our participants remained positive and are hopeful about moving forward. Read the full blog post for an overview of the sub-study and see the reflections students had on topics such as relationships, vaccines, stressors, and self-care.

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Tales from the Land of Enchantment

Last month, the Puentes Para Invitados (PPI) team returned to New Mexico and Texas to continue to meet with community organizations and leaders united in serving migrant communities in the Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Deming, and El Paso areas. During this trip, our main focus was to continue interviewing and hearing from folks on all sides of the migration process to further our work on narrative change. Read to learn more about what we heard and discovered on our last visit to New Mexico, and learn about our upcoming FREE virtual event to explore opportunities to promote healing for providers and the migrant communities they serve.

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Improving the Physical Environment of Neighborhoods to Improve Resident Well-being through the Healthy Neighborhoods Project (HNP)

Does the built environment of neighborhoods impact the health and well-being of residents? Is there a relationship between the quality of a neighborhood’s built environment and the frequency of community violence? These are the overarching questions that the Healthy Neighborhoods Project (HNP) aims to answer with research-backed evidence. The HNP began in 2019 with the belief that all neighborhoods in New Orleans should be vibrant and healthy places to call home, and is investigating the impact that the physical environment has on resident and community well-being. Learn more about how we’re studying the impact that the physical environment has on residents’ mental health here in New Orleans.

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Iman ShervingtonComment
Mosaic Lab: Young Men Explore What it Means to be a Man

Since its inception, Media and Communications have played a pivotal role at IWES: like utilizing photography to bring programs, interventions and resources to life; devising social media strategies to share resources, knowledge and opportunities to the masses; and even creating these newsletters every quarter to keep you updated on what we’re doing and how you can get involved! At times, our Media & COMMS department has the opportunity to leave the every day work of general communications and focus in on specific programs, campaigns and initiatives. This year, one of the projects that we’re excited to share with you is the Mosaic Lab, an initiative of the MORE Project designed to elevate young men’s voices on the topics of gender, masculinity, and healthy relationships. Read on to learn more about this creative and unique campaign and how you can stay engaged with the work.

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Iman ShervingtonComment
Gearing up for the 2022 Louisiana Legislative Sessions!

The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) team is gearing up for the 2022 Louisiana Legislative Sessions! The impacts of local, state and federal policies are often broader and longer-lasting than we sometimes realize, so we’re excited to utilize our expertise in community-based research and our passion for community wellness to educate legislators and advocate for policies that provide better outcomes for our community—especially moms! As the organizational co-lead for the Louisiana Perinatal Mental Health Task Force, IWES hosted three task force meetings and several individual meetings to create a report that we will be releasing later this month with the goal of urging legislators to prioritize the mental health needs of birthing folk in Louisiana. Continue reading to learn about the amazing work our MCH team has been doing to create better legislation for mothers & birthing people and their families in Louisiana.

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Iman ShervingtonComment
2021 Reflection from our Founder/CEO

As I look back at 2021, it’s hard to see past the continually compounding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the unexpected devastation caused by Hurricane Ida. But despite all of the hardship, loss and grief that these two tragedies have forced us to endure, I also see a glimmer of hope and light as I reflect upon the resilience, passion, compassion and strength I witnessed from so many folks at IWES and beyond – so much so that we were able to find pockets of joy and stability on what felt like very turbulent skies and unstable ground. In this piece, I take a brief moment to reflect upon what we as an organization have learned this past year. Take a moment to read them, and reach out—comment or let us know what has meaning for you.

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Iman ShervingtonComment