Henry Ford Health Community Summit: Closing the Gaps in Obesity Management

Henry Ford Innovations co-hosted the summit with our partners the Henry Ford Department of Family Medicine, led by Denise White-Perkins, MD, PhD, who also is Director of Healthcare Equity Initiatives. Also partnering with us was Henry Ford Obesity Management, led by Suki Singh, MD.

Forty percent of U.S. adults and nearly 20% of youth aged 2-19 have obesity. The numbers and the comorbidities are even more dire in under-resourced and under-served communities. The summit brought community organizations together with clinicians and life sciences companies to begin co-developing innovative solutions to support healthy lifestyles and improve access to care for obesity management.

It was an inspiring first step toward sharing best practices, making connections across diverse communities and begin to understand the barriers we need to overcome as well as the assets we already have to address obesity.

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to attend and share your expertise, your perspective and your passion. We extend a special thank you to Vikas Relan, Kate Zenlea, and Alexandra Hunter for their exceptional organizational efforts that made this event possible. We look forward to sharing our progress over the coming weeks and months.

Tags: Brilliant Detroit, New Calvary Baptist Church, El Bethel Baptist Church, Detroit Friendship House, Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, 360 Detroit, MSU University Extension Health and Nutrition Institute