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Demetria McNeal, Ph.D., MBA is a health communication scientist with expertise in implementation science, sustainability, and health equity. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of Health Equity in the Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. McNeal is dedicated to disrupting the status quo of healthcare. Dr. McNealShe believes that to improve health outcomes and experiences, we must do healthcare differently. As a research professor, consultant, and speaker, she fights inequalities in the healthcare system so it can better serve all people, particularly minoritized communities. Her research focuses on interests span health communication, dissemination and implementation science, and disparities in cardiovascular disease. Dr. McNeal conducts pragmatic, patient-centered research and mixed-method evaluation on health and health care for diverse populations.
Dr. McNeal’s career in healthcare began at a very young age when she worked at a drugstore through high school. She then graduated from the Michael E. DeBakey H.S. for Health Professions, located in the Texas Medical Center. Though she decided that earning a marketing degree was preferred over a medical degree, she maintained a career trajectory in healthcare. By working as a nurse aide and unit clerk at a community hospital through college, and later working in a variety of positions in a pharmaceutical company and healthcare consulting, she saw firsthand the gaps and inequities within the healthcare system that frequently left clinicians hamstrung and prevented patients, particularly minoritized patients, from receiving basic and necessary healthcare. Those experiences spurred her academic research in healthcare innovation and interventions to better serve minoritized communities. Dr. McNeal believes that individual health should not be determined by race, gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location, occupation, or religion.
Dr. Demetria is available for educational consultation, speeches, workshops, podcast interviews and more. Contact her today and help raise awareness of the implications of healthcare communication inequity.
Demetria McNeal, Ph.D., MBA is a health communication scientist with expertise in implementation science, sustainability, and health equity. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of Health Equity in the Division of General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. McNeal is dedicated to disrupting the status quo of healthcare. Dr. McNealShe believes that to improve health outcomes and experiences, we must do healthcare differently. As a research professor, consultant, and speaker, she fights inequalities in the healthcare system so it can better serve all people, particularly minoritized communities. Her research focuses on interests span health communication, dissemination and implementation science, and disparities in cardiovascular disease. Dr. McNeal conducts pragmatic, patient-centered research and mixed-method evaluation on health and health care for diverse populations.
Dr. McNeal’s career in healthcare began at a very young age when she worked at a drugstore through high school. She then graduated from the Michael E. DeBakey H.S. for Health Professions, located in the Texas Medical Center. Though she decided that earning a marketing degree was preferred over a medical degree, she maintained a career trajectory in healthcare. By working as a nurse aide and unit clerk at a community hospital through college, and later working in a variety of positions in a pharmaceutical company and healthcare consulting, she saw firsthand the gaps and inequities within the healthcare system that frequently left clinicians hamstrung and prevented patients, particularly minoritized patients, from receiving basic and necessary healthcare treatment. Those experiences spurred her academic research in healthcare innovation and interventions to better serve minoritized communities. Dr. McNeal believes that individual health should not be determined by race, gender, socioeconomic status, geographic location, occupation, or religion.
Dr. McNeal converts her beliefs into action through research, speaking, and consulting. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her work has been published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American Heart Association, and the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, among others. She has also appeared on several podcasts, most recently the AlchemistX podcast, and multiple panels to discuss innovation in the healthcare industry and the contextual considerations for the dissemination of healthcare interventions in diverse settings.
Consulting services are an essential pillar of Dr. McNeal’s passion for healthcare communication and innovation, which she provides as part of the Colorado Health Innovation Community (CHIC). She has given presentations at the Science of Dissemination and Implementation Conference, the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare & Health Literacy, and the American Heart Association Quality of Care and Outcomes Research.
She received her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Hampton University, Master of Business Administration in Marketing from New York Institute of Technology, and Doctorate of Philosophy in Communication Studies from the University of Georgia. Dr. McNeal is a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) granted by the Association for Training Development.
Dr. Demetria is available for educational consultation, speeches, workshops, podcast interviews and more. Contact her today and help raise awareness of the implications of healthcare communication inequity.
In Demetria’s presentations, she draws on more than 20 years of experience as a marketer, researcher, and entrepreneurial advisor to teach clinicians, patients, and health care leaders on how to de-implement mediocrity and ignite real improvement in health outcomes.
Dr. Demetria’s work and research help people understand and improve how healthcare information is delivered to different groups. The disparity in health communication leads to inequities in healthcare outcomes.
In her engagements, she provides powerful stories and examples about how health outcomes are affected by how information is disseminated and implemented. She discusses how and why health inequities exist, and the vital information health institutions and providers need to know to bring equitable healthcare to everyone.
Researchers do great work and discover so many important and life-changing innovations. However, the time between discoveries and their translation to a real-world application is significant.
Contact me to learn more about how you and your institution can learn more effective ways to close the gap from bench to realized positive clinical outcomes and decrease the time to clinical impact.
Minoritized populations suffer detrimental consequences due to race, socioeconomic status, religion, or other marginalization. The inequities in healthcare delivery cause disproportionate and preventable incidences of death and illness exacerbation within these groups.
My research prioritizes the reformation of how healthcare services are delivered to eradicate health inequities. Ask me to show your organization ways they can help bring equitable health to everyone.
Identification and elimination of system-level disparities in cardiovascular disease outcomes have been a focus of my research. In my engagements, I bring a greater awareness of the personal and financial cost of health disparities among minoritized populations and underserved populations. It is a tragic story, but one that we can change together.
I am a passionate advocate of bringing about better health through improved communication, education, and the implementation of better practices. Contact me to learn what we can all do to reduce health disparities in cardiovascular outcomes and eliminate inequities in care delivery.
The communication strategies used by doctors to communicate health information and options vary greatly between locations, socioeconomic groups, religions, and races. Variation in the information and treatment options provided to patients can significantly affect health outcomes creating a disparity an inequity in who receives the best care.
- Healthcare & Medical Events
- Business/ Team Building Exercises
- Tradeshows
- Professional Associations
- Academic/ Educational Settings
- News and Media Interviews
- Motivational Engagements
- 1. How did your earlier career choices lead you to where you are now?
- 2. How did you become an academic researcher and why have you stayed?
- 3. Members of minoritized communities are few in numbers in academic settings, particularly PWI. How have you found success?
- 1. Can you discuss what dissemination and implementation science is?
- 2. Can you share some finding from your research in D&I that you think would surprise some folks?
- 3. Most folks may not understand D&I. How does D&I affect us when we think about the health care environment?
- 4. Why D&I as an area of study for you?
- 5. How can we advance the field of D&I science?
- 1. What are common misconceptions people have about health disparities and CVD?
- 2. It seems like health disparities are increasing. Do you think so? If so, why? If not, why not?
- 3. I know you research is primarily in CVD, but what other disease do health disparities exist?
- 4. What do you believe is required to reduce and even eliminate health disparities in CVD?
- 5. How can we advance the field of research in health disparities in CVD outcomes.
- 1. It seems like health inequities in health care is everywhere. How did we come to have health inequities in care?
- 2. What made you decide to focus on health inequities in care delivery?
- 3. Are there factors outside of health care that affect how health care is delivered?
- 4. Why do you think we still have inequities in health care?
- 5. How can we advance the field of investigation in health inequities that exist in health care systems?
- 1. Can you talk to us about what health communication really is?
- 2. Why is health communication an important factor to consider across the greater health care environment?
- 3. Most folks hear health communication and may think it doesn’t pertain to them. How does health communication affect us when we think about going to the doctor?
- 4. Why health communication as an area of study for you?
- 5. How can we advance the field of health communication research?
