Apply for the Health Care Equity Program for an ‘Intense, Rewarding Experience’
August 21, 2024
The AAN Health Care Equity Program is now accepting applications through October 31, 2024. This unique program gives neurologists the tools to mitigate health care disparities and make brain health more accessible for all.
Participants will receive a $1,000 award and free registration to the 2025 AAN Annual Meeting in San Diego, where the program will kick off with a full day of learning and workshops. They’ll attend several virtual sessions and work on individual projects to mitigate health care disparities at their own institutions.
“If you have an idea for addressing health disparities in neurology, the AAN will support you every step of the way,” said 2024 participant Meghna Rajaprakash, MD. “This program offers opportunities to network, collaborate, learn from experts, and gain insights and knowledge to help you succeed in your project.”
Rajaprakash, an assistant professor of neurology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, is working to set up a multidisciplinary Neurodevelopmental Clinic for Early Exposures at the institute. This clinic would provide diagnostic services and comprehensive treatment for children aged three to ten who may have conditions associated with intrauterine exposures to substances and infections, which she said put them at risk for cognitive and motor issues, ADHD, and epilepsy.
“The current lack of dedicated neurology clinics that focus on prenatal exposures leads to delays in early identification, poor long-term outcomes, and creates health care disparities for this vulnerable population,” she said.
Rajaprakash said the Health Care Equity Program, along with other AAN offerings like the Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum and the Enhanced Resident Leadership Program, have helped her strengthen her leadership skills and equipped her with the tools to create action-oriented plans, manage media relations, and become an advocate in the field of neurology. She will continue to collaborate with the AAN's Health Care Equity program until March 2025, when she and her fellow participants will graduate from this prestigious program.
One of those fellow participants is Aaron Nelson, MD, FAAN, who called the Health Care Equity Program an “intense and rewarding experience.” As the director of epilepsy at New York City’s historic Bellevue Hospital, he aims to address socioeconomic barriers to care for children with epilepsy.
“There are many potential social, cultural, and educational barriers to epilepsy surgery beyond economic, and as we've worked to create a pathway to epilepsy surgery within the public hospital system we find many families are still reluctant when presented with it as an option,” he said.
Nelson, along with pediatric neurosurgeon Eveline Teresa Hildago, MD, are working to identify the concerns or factors that influence families’ decisions. Once those factors are identified, they can find focused, culturally appropriate interventions to create a pathway to epilepsy surgery and reduce gaps in care.
“The benefit of the Health Care Equity Program is that it is giving me the opportunity to learn from others who have already succeeded in making a difference in this space,” Nelson said. “I can learn from their early experiences, avoid unnecessary pitfalls, mistakes, or detours, and also learn a lot more of the larger theories and practices that can lead to intentional quality improvement for patients most at risk for health care inequities.”
Eligible AAN members can apply for the program online by submitting a CV and a short statement on what they hope to gain from it.