Mothers at Rolling Terrace Share Knowledge and Experience

CHEER just completed showing three episodes of “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” to Latin American Mothers who participate in the Linkages to Learning Program at Rolling Terrace Elementary School. Each showing was followed by a discussion in which participants related their own experiences and stories on topics related to the social determinants of health.

The three episodes were “Place Matters” which shows how housing and neighborhood quality affect health, “Becoming American” which emphasizes how communities of mutual support can protect people from illness, and “Bad Sugar” which describes how economic and cultural disempowerment is a primary risk factor for diabetes.

The participants in the showings and discussions afterward provided stories from their own lives for each episode. They answered questions on the quality of their neighborhood, their social connections, and the barriers they experience to maintaining good health. All participants said that they learned a lot from the videos and the discussions. “It was helpful to be able to compare experiences” said one participant. Another said it was good to see that there is so much that we have to learn.

CHEER is grateful to all the participants for making the events so interesting, and to the Site Coordinator Maria Bhatti, and CHEER volunteer Julie Huff who helped make these events a success.