How to advocate for better healthcare
Your body is the temple of your soul. Therefore, you need to take care of your body, and that includes advocating for better healthcare for yourself and being an engaged and active partner to your health care professionals.
It also means that if you are a U.S. citizen and not a person of color, it is incumbent upon you to act as an “ally” in advocating for better healthcare for people of color.
I realize this may be new and uncomfortable, so here are three ways you can get started.
1 . Take action by speaking up. When we visit our healthcare providers, we must hold them accountable. We must demand the same high-quality treatment, respect, and cultural sensitivity that is afforded to others, not of our gender, race, or socioeconomic status – and/or who have grand levels of education, greater community, and social stability or more comprehensive insurance coverage.
2. Familiarize yourself with services and resources. Find culturally relevant community services and resources that are available, such as clinical therapists or faith-based therapists of color in your area. You can accomplish this by reaching out to local agencies such as your Urban League or other civic groups. Conduct a Google search for minority clinicians in your area.
3. Take steps toward living the healthiest lifestyle for you. This is necessary so you can prevent developing an avoidable chronic health condition – or avoid worsening an already present chronic health condition. The two lifestyle factors most associated with worsening health and well-being are smoking and having a Body Mass Index (BMI) correlated to clinical obesity. In addition, be careful not to fall for “fad” diets, treatments, or pills that some businesses try to scam Black and Brown people into thinking they really work. (They don’t, and they might even make some conditions worse!)
Most importantly, please don’t become frustrated and decide “I’m just not going to go back” This only leads to reduced health outcomes such as cancer moving from treatable to terminal, diabetes leading to amputation of limbs, or high blood pressure leading to a stroke, heart attack or death.
These points and more helpful information about how to take charge of your health can be found in my book, JUSTice for the Health of it. It’s a practical, easy-to-read book that helps readers understand why health inequities exist and how to remove barriers to equitable health for everyone. Buy it here.
