When it comes to addressing health disparities, it’s critically important that healthcare providers and researchers take a proactive approach to building trust with the communities we aim to serve.

As founding director of the Center for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis, Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola has decades of experience with this approach.

“It is possible to overcome the barriers of access to care if we can change our paradigm,” he says. “

In this episode of the Health Disparities podcast, Dr. Aguilar speaks with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Zachary Lum about his work, which focuses on health disparities, mental health in underserved populations, community-engaged research and Latino health.

Never miss an episode – subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts

In the late-1980s, Father Gregory Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence in his community during the so-called Decade of Death that peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992 in Los Angeles.

In the face of criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration, Father Boyle and community members adopted what was a radical approach – at the time – to treat gang members as human beings. In 1988, they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life.

Father Greg Boyle spoke with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason for an episode that was originally published in 2020.

There’s no single fix to closing gaps in health care outcomes, says Dr. Maureen Bell, physician director of community impact at Vituity, where she leads efforts to identify and eliminate health disparities.

“There are multiple things that we have to work on,” Bell says, including increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce and educating providers on strategies for providing equitable care and considering the “whole patient.”

Bell spoke with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Joyce Knestrick about how systemic bias, lack of representation, and community barriers shape the care patients receive.

She said inequities persist because too often, health systems focus narrowly on medical interventions while overlooking social factors — such as affordability, access, transportation, and the environments in which people live.

The 2025 Movement Is Life Annual Summit will take place on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. This year’s theme is “Combating Health Disparities: The Power of Movement in Community.” Registration is now open. Visit movementislifecommunity.org for more information.

Never miss an episode – subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts