This project seeks to document the biographies of researchers, clinicians, and activists that have devoted their careers to the cause of health equity.

These types of narratives are rarely recorded in the academic literature, and when they exist at all, tend to focus only on the notable leaders in the field. We started this project with the relatively simple goal of collecting and archiving qualitative stories of a wide spectrum of people working on different aspects of health equity in Chicago – over time, building an archive that might add a layer of complexity to the narratives we have in the academic literature.

As an extension of our Voices of Equity Project, we welcome you to our CCHE Podcast.

For this inaugural interview conducted on January 13, 2023, the founders of the Center for Community Health Equity discuss its beginnings, ongoing work, and future directions. Margaret Storey, Professor of History and Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at DePaul University, interviews Raj Shah and Fernando De Maio, Co-Founders of the Center.

Raj Shah is Co-Director of CCHE, a geriatrician at Rush University Medical Center, and Associate Professor at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Fernando De Maio is a Professor at DePaul’s Department of Sociology and Vice President of Health Equity Research and Data Use at the American Medical Association’s Center for Health Equity.

Podcast Host: Maria J. Ferrera, Co-Director of CCHE

Assistant Producer for Inaugural Interview: Allison Woodward

Learn more about CCHE at healthequitychicago.org and see this link to the article discussing the concept of Belonging referenced during the interview.

Past Interviews

“Can we build a coalition of mental health practitioners on behalf of the wellbeing of immigrant communities?”

Voices of Health Equity in Chicago
Interview No. 22
Topic: Immigrant mental health

Maria J. Ferrera, PhD, LCSW
Associate Professor
DePaul University, Department of Social Work

Voices of Health Equity

As an extension of our Voices of Equity Project, we welcome you to our CCHE Podcast.

Past Interviews

“Can we build a coalition of mental health practitioners on behalf of the wellbeing of immigrant communities?”

How do we support the network or the ecology of that family in ways that allow it to be mutually reinforcing, rather than to be in mortal conflict?

“Well, maybe research needs to change how it thinks about communities.”

“We ourselves are part of the solutions and not dependent on outsiders coming in and testing things out with us.”

“…it’s really helpful to have someone on your side.”

“…sound policy is for the people and by the people. Sound policy is policy that is very much informed by the community and its development is influenced by community advocacy.”

“Don’t be afraid to tell the truth out loud. Because, whatever, someone’s gotta say it, and it might as well be you.”

“…you’ve got to temper that optimism with some realism and know that things aren’t going to be fixed completely or right away. But every small bit that I see improve makes me glad that I’m doing this…”

“Equity is a problem of very significant disparities in opportunity…”

“We are always asking, ‘what’s wrong with the neighborhood? What are they doing wrong?’ But so few look at what the neighborhoods are really doing right.”

“Everyone should have the same opportunity to have good health and no one should suffer for reasons that are preventable.”

“…if we want to attack fear, there are certain policies and procedures that clinics and providers can implement to make their institutions more immigrant friendly or immigrant safe.”

“If we want to make our city healthier, I believe we need to get out of our comfort zones and see the world from the perspective of the neighborhoods”

“We understand health equity through empathy, so you have to put yourself in situations so you can feel what it’s like”

“What we’re finding is even sliding fee scales are a barrier to access…”

“The more that I engage in community research, the more I question our own biases in academia”

“We have really tried to give community a voice and partner with them around the questions we ask”

“If we treat human beings as victims first and foremost, we can stop further violence”

“…if I looked at the research through an anti-racist lens, a lot of things came into focus that had not been clear to me before”

“…these maps tell strong stories about racism, segregation and its outcomes in Chicago”

“I knew that social justice was going to be a part of whatever I did…”

“The farther you were from the trauma center, the more likely you were to die”