VOA VOICES: Dr. Janikaa Sherrod
Dr. Janikaa Sherrod is passionate about health equity. And she is looking forward to creating real change as VOA’s Director of Community Health and Equity.
In this new VOA leadership role, she will oversee “Determined Health” a project that will connect residents in West Louisville neighborhoods with high-quality health care, monitor health outcomes and address health inequity.
“I’m excited to see the change we talk about. I want to change the narrative. Everybody – no matter who they are or where they live, deserves access to the basic necessities. I’m passionate about what I do, and don’t like that so often in the community people hear promises but then people don’t follow through. We need the work we do to be sustainable,” Dr. Sherrod said.
Her experience as a community leader and connector will be key to a program designed to create long-term change through grassroots, door-to-door contact with residents. Determined Health will feature trained Community Health Workers who meet with residents and help them to access health care providers and community resources.
“When we start to see a reduction in health disparities, when we look at mortality rates in chronic diseases and close the gap between white and black residents, when we see people going to primary care providers instead of the emergency room and when people are seeing their basic needs met – we’ll know we are actually making change,” Dr. Sherrod said.