{"id":817,"date":"2024-11-21T15:40:26","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T15:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/?p=817"},"modified":"2025-11-03T19:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:28:18","slug":"qa-with-iach-executive-director-dr-kerry-sease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/2024\/11\/21\/qa-with-iach-executive-director-dr-kerry-sease\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with IACH Executive Director Dr. Kerry Sease"},"content":{"rendered":"

What are the Upstate\u2019s unique public health challenges?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KS:<\/strong> In the Upstate we are fortunate to have two health systems that are dedicated to the health of our communities. One helpful tool is their community health needs assessment (CHNA), which is completed every three years. The latest CHNA that was completed by both Prisma Health and Bon Secours identified mental health as a top priority. I agree that this continues to be a critical issue in our community. Other challenges include obesity and comorbid conditions related to obesity (such as diabetes and heart disease) and overall access to care. Team members from IACH are working with the hospital systems on their CHNA implementation plan around childhood obesity, mental health and heart disease prevention. Additionally, IACH serves as the lead evaluator for LiveWell Greenville, which champions healthy eating and active living by convening community members and partners to impact policies, systems and environmental change.<\/p>\n

How are students making a difference through IACH?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KS:<\/strong> Students who participate in IACH summer fellowships are working directly with community-based organizations and teams who are actively committed to addressing top community health priorities. They are working on projects and with programs designed to directly impact communities. In addition, IACH\u2019s student Community Health Champions help us develop Cultural Life Programs (CLPs) that advance the dialogue around critical community health concerns.<\/p>\n

What is the outlook for careers in community health and medicine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KS:<\/strong> Careers in community health and medicine continue to be in demand. As we learn more about the social drivers and influences on our health, there will continue to be demand. There are many ways to influence health; you don\u2019t have to be a traditional doctor or nurse to have an impact. There are opportunities in education, policy, environmental science, nonprofit work and beyond. Nearly every career can influence community health as the collective efforts of individuals across various sectors contribute to creating healthier and more resilient communities.<\/p>\n

How did the pandemic change what we expect of community health workers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

KS:<\/strong> The pandemic highlighted the existing health inequities in our communities. Community health workers (CHWs) are valued and trusted voices in the community and are a vital part of the health care system. The role CHWs played in the pandemic was vital for sharing accurate information about disease transmission, treatment and vaccine safety. CHWs also were able to advocate for populations who experience vulnerability at a rate disproportionate to others. The role of the community health worker was elevated during the pandemic. We are seeing more and more opportunities for CHWs as health systems, public health entities and community-based organizations recognize the importance of this trusted voice in addressing current and emergent health concerns in our community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the Upstate\u2019s unique public health challenges? KS: In the Upstate we are fortunate to have two health systems that are dedicated to the health of our communities. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-furman-innovation-lab"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":819,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions\/819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/institute-advancement-community-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}