Rheumatic heart disease, typically the consequence of an untreated childhood infection, affects 18 million people in Africa and kills 300,000 of them every year. Open Heart tells the powerful story of eight Rwandan children who leave their families to journey to the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery, in Khartoum, Sudan, the African continent’s only free-of-charge, state-of-the art cardiac hospital. Cori Shepherd Stern, Neal Baer

At the moment they feel most vulnerable, patients and family members typically find themselves in impersonal hospital rooms and uncomfortable clinic waiting areas, treated more like a number than a person. But some pioneering facilities are doing things differently — with simple strategies, like brightly painted walls and space for family photos, and more intricate ones, like engaging loved ones in processes of care and redesigning clinics to add warmth and privacy. Are there universal...

Since Sam Kass became senior policy advisor for Nutrition Policy at the White House, five years ago, he has been at the forefront of Michelle Obama’s campaign to convince manufacturers to reduce fat and sodium and add whole grains to their foods. A legacy of the White House will be improving school lunches — if, that is, the improvements the White House won four years ago don’t get rolled back by a Congress that says fruits and vegetables are expensive and kids don’t eat them anyway. Kass...

Industrial design is often considered more a matter of aesthetics than medicine, yet it can greatly enhance the quality of our lives, and indeed preserve life itself. Engineered products are allowing the disabled to lead fuller lives and restoring limbs lost to catastrophe. Resourceful design innovators are marketing remarkable self-monitoring tools, introducing portable diagnostic and treatment technologies, and expanding the reach of affordable toilets. How can we develop more...

Two US Department of Agriculture Secretaries, one past, one present, come together to talk about American food policies. Agricultural supports and other decisions made on US soil, and the trade agreements we negotiate around the world, have powerful effects on the global food supply; land conservation; the use of water, nitrogen, and pesticides; and animal and plant disease management. How do US policy choices impact the safety, price and accessibility of the food we feed the nation? How do...

Many women in remote regions of Africa face a day’s journey to the nearest hospital if they need emergency obstetrics care. In the US, millions are cut off from vital specialty services, not only because of geography but because of economic circumstance, immigrant status, and clinical shortages. How can the system deliver healthcare more efficiently in remote or resource-poor settings? What best-practice options can be replicated, from e-training and video mentoring to the use of...

About half the world’s population suffers from some form of malnutrition – 2 billion people are undernourished, 1.4 billion are overweight or obese, and 800 million are hungry – and as climate change advances, the threats will likely worsen. In the US, cutbacks in the Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program mean some Americans run out food every month. Lacking the right nutrients to grow and thrive, billions around the globe cannot rise from poverty. What food and nutrition priorities...

Radical innovations in healthcare are underway. As everything starts to look different — from healthcare products to providers, clinical settings to payment solutions — new opportunities emerge to put the patient at the center of a more comprehensive model. What is the future of healthcare from the patient’s perspective? What needs to change and how do we take advantage of that opportunity? What’s your solution? In this atypical collaborative conversation, join with fellow Spotlight attendees...

Colorado’s new “right-to-try” law, signed in May, allows terminally ill patients access to investigational drugs without federal approval. Similar legislation is being considered in other states. Supporters call it a ray of hope for people with few alternatives, while skeptics argue that the hopes could be false and the suffering worsened. The US Food and Drug Administration already has compassionate-use mechanisms in place, but action at the state level is a first. What are the clinical and...

Healthy communities put people first, with safe housing, convenient schools and workplaces, and ready access to food, water, recreation and sustainable transportation. Rural or urban, resource-rich or impoverished, they offer opportunity and hope, and reward imagination and ingenuity. These places also foster a sense of shared purpose, perhaps sporting community centers and gardens, resource-sharing activities and microenterprise, sidewalks and bike lanes. What are the must-have features of a...

Much more than walls and a roof, buildings shape how we move through space and relate to others, promoting well-being and strengthening our sense of community — or doing the opposite, if they are poorly designed. There has been some especially dynamic design work in the developing world in recent years, and a south-to-north dialogue offers a rich opportunity to understand why architecture matters. How do the spaces we inhabit influence health and wellness? What does it take to blend form and...

Inequities abound in healthcare. Out of the reach of adequate services, infants born to African-American women in the US are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to die than infants of other races/ethnicities. Gastrointestinal infections, typically caused by contaminated water and generally preventable, kill 2.2 million people around the world every year. How do we address the underlying disparities that drive inequity and fail vulnerable populations? What’s possible for a fairer health delivery...

Far from a luxury of the leisure class, the arts offer therapeutic power as essential to healing as food and medicine. Whether it is music that restores equilibrium to a wounded veteran, dance that allows a wheelchair-bound woman to move, or painting that helps a child express trauma, art helps us tell our stories and restore our humanity. ASL interpreting provided by Aspen Camp for this session Iva Fattorini, Jacques Sebisaho, Arthur Bloom, Andrew Revkin