Josephine Ensign, FNP, MPH, DrPH
“Walk in my Homeless Shoes:
the Promise and Pitfalls of Empathy”

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Stevenson Union (Rogue River Room)
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Boulevard
Ashland, Oregon

7:00 p.m.
Free lecture, open to the public
8:00 p.m.
Reception

Parking in meter permit zone (lot 36) or on street. View map here.

To RSVP, please email alumni@ohsu.edu, or call 541-552-8480.

As health care providers and concerned citizens, we are admonished to cultivate empathy for people who are marginalized by poverty and homelessness. But what exactly is empathy and is it always a good thing for both the giver and the receiver of empathy? In this talk I will explore these questions and offer positive ways to walk in another person's shoes.

Dr. Ensign was born in Richmond, Virginia where she received her bachelors and masters degrees. She received her doctorate in public health in 1996 from the Johns Hopkins University. Ensign is currently a Professor at the University of Washington, in the School of Nursing, Department of Psychosocial and Community Health. She is also Director of the University of Washington’s Homelessness Research Initiative’s Doorway Project, an innovative Washington State funded community campus partnership program addressing youth homelessness in Seattle. Her blog posts and other writings are her personal reflections on health care, social justice and health humanities from the perspective of a nurse practitioner, where she has provided primary health care to homeless youth and adults for the past three decades. Ensign is a talented photographer who personally experienced homelessness. She uses writing, photos and other artifacts as ways to explore possible answers to complex ethical and existential questions. Through her work, Ensign’s overall aim is to humanize health care and to cultivate empathy leading to action.