Who I am
Leslie Bronner, MD, MPH, DrPH has been working in the field of psychiatry for over 20 years, in all aspects of mental health including the VA medical center, state hospital, community mental health centers, emergency room, inpatient unit and outpatient clinic. Prior to her medical career she attained a Masters and Doctorate in Public Health with a specific concentration in Epidemiology. This laid the foundation for her understanding of the social factors in disease development. However there were two experiences, during her clinical career, that shaped her overall professional focus.
About My Work
The first was her work in a substance abuse residential treatment center for pregnant women and women with children. While She was treating the women, she had a first hand look at the children who were being raised in this environment. She began to wonder how this experience would impact their development because these could be her future patients. In trying to understand the potential impact, She was introduced to the work of John Bowlby and attachment theory. This theory states that the nature of a child’s tie or bond with a primary caregiver dictates healthy or unhealthy cognitive, social and emotional development. The nature of this bond is determined by how the primary caregiver treats the child. This made it very clear that the early years of a child’s life were very important.
The second experience was more recent as she has been working on an inpatient psychiatric unit within a health system. She noticed that while we are able to medically stabilize a patient after admission, it is the social factors including housing, income, intimate partner violence that dictates how long they may be hospitalized and/or whether they will return to the hospital after discharge. So from an adult standpoint, if we are not able to improve the health and wellbeing of this generation, then they will not be able to provide the necessary nurturing environment, for the healthy development of the next generation.
This lead her to write her first book, American’s Health Crisis: The Community is Now the Patient. She decided to write this book after 30+ years as a psychiatrist and public health professional, since she has seen the same patients return again and again - not because the treatment failed but because the system was not able to address what made them sick in the first place. The argument is made that poor health in this country is due to the lack of focus on the social determinant of health that have been shown to play a major role in disease development. From health systems and smaller provider groups, to the political landscape, there has to be a focus on identifying unhealthy communities and making sure there is a just distribution of resources and opportunities in order to solve this problem. You will enjoy this book If you are a healthcare provider, policy advocate, parent or someone who simply cares about your health and the health of your community.