Karabi Acharya’s Post

Everyone needs access to nutrient-rich, healthy foods that energize them without breaking the bank. In the U.S. highly-processed foods laden with sugar, sodium, and empty calories are much cheaper and more readily available to families, contributing to chronic disease epidemics and high medical bills. Other nations are doing a lot to ensure healthy foods are accessible for all. Take South Africa’s healthy food subsidy program as an example. Discovery Health, the largest private insurer in South Africa, refunds up to 25% on healthy food purchases in over 400 designated supermarkets across the country. Once activated, the benefit is free for members. Results have shown that this program meaningfully changes purchasing patterns, effectively encouraging people to buy produce and whole foods. While this program is only available to those who have Discovery Health insurance, this type of incentive can be replicated across contexts to drive lasting change. How would this type of program impact your food-buying habits in the U.S.? 

Indigenous entrepreneurs—including farmers, potters, jewelers, and graphic designers—contribute greatly to the financial stability and wellbeing of their communities. But many of their businesses lack investors because of their size. To ensure they can access the resources they need to succeed, RWJF grantee New Mexico Community Capital is working to create a participant-owned economy that reflects Indigenous values through shared power and decisionmaking. In an interview for RWJF’s "What’s Next Health: 5 Questions For…" series, Henry Jake Foreman, Program Director of New Mexico Community Capital, describes just how they are strengthening economic opportunities for Indigenous entrepreneurs using Web3 technologies such as blockchain and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Explore how their IndigiDAO program combines Indigenous cultural practices with modern technologies, and what it means for health equity, here: https://lnkd.in/eg-_pyna

Last year was the hottest year on record, and we’re already witnessing another hotter-than-normal summer. Extreme heat caused by climate change is harming everyone’s health, but local community leaders in U.S. cities are taking bold steps to drive climate resilience in their backyards. 🚶🏿♀️Drawing inspiration from cool islands in Paris, Lawrence, Massachusetts, is mitigating heat with walkable spaces and cool roofs, creating safer, cooler streets and fostering spaces for community.   🌿Through a community-led design process—and inspired by urban nature projects in Velenje, Slovenia—Jackson, Mississippi, is transforming three sites in the historic Farish Street district into green spaces to reduce temperatures and improve health and wellbeing for Jacksonians.   ☀ Learning from community-focused youth coalitions in Morocco and New Zealand, partners in Tempe, Arizona, created the Cool Kids, Cool Places, Cool Futures project, centered on youth education, dialogue, and activism in response to extreme heat. Learn more about these cities taking action to address extreme heat: https://lnkd.in/guwb2j2v #ClimateChange #Heat #HealthEquity

I recently noticed that, now, when searching on Google, an AI bot includes what it thinks is the best answer to my question at the top of my search results. This got me thinking: how does this relate to health inquiries on the internet? I for one occasionally search health-related questions online for quick answers, but without personalized information, it’s hard to know what to listen to. As AI becomes increasingly prevalent in our everyday lives, we need to think about what this means for health equity. Will AI make it easier for everyone to have access to the information and care they need? Will it cause more health mis and dis information? A combination of both? To explore these questions, we can look to other nations that are already using AI to reach, understand, and serve patients. For example, askNivi—a chatbot used in India, Nigeria, and Kenya—is helping to provide evidence-based, customized health information to people at different reading levels. And in Kenya, the free digital platform, PROMPTS, delivered by Jacaranda Health via SMS messages, gives new and expecting mothers easy, ongoing access to prenatal and postnatal health information tailored to their pregnancy stage. How can we in the U.S. ensure digital health information benefits all?

I’m heading off on summer vacation this week and am looking forward to “turning off” my work brain and taking some much-needed time to rest and focus on spending time with my family. The health benefits of rest are well established, but hustle culture in the U.S. and around the globe can make it difficult for us to meaningfully take time for ourselves. In an article for RWJF’s "What’s Next Health Medium publication, Jessica Clark, Founder and Director of Dot Connector Studio and previous Futurist in Residence for RWJF, dives into the barriers to resting in America, how activists are tapping rest as a form of resistance, and insights from her futurism work into how we can create a more relaxing future. I’m particularly inspired by the tactics she summarizes from the Nap Ministry. I might even be using a few during my time off! Check out her article to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eHiRZXyf 

This Juneteenth, I’m thinking about all the progress that has been made around the world toward achieving health and racial equity. While we still have a long way to go, I am inspired by efforts that aim to address historical wrongs and work toward a better future. But in the U.S., we must do more. I’m looking to New Zealand, where the Māori people have fought for reparations and won more than $2B from the New Zealand government in settlements, and are already witnessing the mental and physical health benefits of this kind of restorative justice. At RWJF, we’re learning from their efforts to inform the conversation on Black reparations back here in the U.S. As we celebrate the historical legacy of Juneteenth, we need to continue to find new paths for advancing true equity to ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to thrive. Global learning can help us on this journey. #RacialEquity #Juneteenth #Reparations

Absolutely loved Retro Report’s panel and cannot wait for the premiere of their new film. It explores how communities in several countries are harnessing co-housing to combat the loneliness epidemic.

Missed RWJF’s latest Reimagined in America webinar?     It was such a pleasure to talk to Ben Wise of Dalberg, Zubaida Bai of Grameen Foundation, and George McGraw of DigDeep and learn about six emerging global trends in health equity, and how other countries are responding to an increase in calls to update systems of care work to be more equitable and supportive and in demand for healthier, more inclusive public spaces. It was especially great to talk to each of our speakers about how the trends relate to one another, and how multisolving practices can inspire solutions to multiple barriers to health equity at once.   Watch the recording to hear the insights they shared and recommendations for how policymakers and community leaders in the U.S. can draw inspiration from solutions implemented globally around these trends. https://rwjf.ws/4ccFcOV     #GlobalIdeas #GlobalTrends #Caregiving

Social connection is crucial for good health. But the U.S. is facing a loneliness epidemic alongside a shortage of mental health providers able to take on more patients. A lack of social infrastructure to cultivate connection and reduced access to care is increasingly common in areas with low incomes and rural places. Facing similar challenges, Zimbabwe developed The Friendship Bench program in 2007. Local clinics began training community-based health workers to provide problem-solving therapy outdoors on wooden benches within the ground of their clinics. These new therapists are typically older women referred to as grandmothers, and they counsel people suffering from common mental illnesses, particularly in areas where there is less access to care. Participating grandmothers benefit from improved health, compared to those not involved, and the community benefits from accessible mental health support Friendship Benches have been implemented in a handful of major U.S. cities—including NYC, New Orleans, and Washington D.C.—but to create equitable impact, we need more of these programs in the places that need them most.