How to Talk About What’s at Stake for Health Equity
Many health equity advocates across the country are anxious right now.
The two presidential candidates, along with contenders for state legislatures and Congress, hold divergent views on many issues critical to equity, including poverty, welfare, employment, healthcare access, and housing. They have widely different regard for civil rights, reproductive justice, and gender equality.
What’s certain is that the outcome of the 2024 election, from statehouses to Capitol Hill to the White House, will have profound implications for health equity. (HealthBegins’ October 2024 webinar, co-hosted with the Health Equity Community Collaborative, spelled out what’s at stake.)
As Upstreamists, we need colleagues to stand with us, learn with us, and act with us. Yet in many settings, our healthcare colleagues are focused on other priorities.
How do we open conversations with colleagues about what’s at stake in this election and what to do about it? How can we approach those conversations so that they’re constructive, rooted in the values we share as caregivers? How do we build bridges about what matters most for health?
Through our work at HealthBegins supporting courageous health-equity leaders across more than 30 U.S. states, we have discovered some helpful starting points. We offer them to you in this concise guide. Let them help you open conversations, share information, build shared passion, and encourage action—both for the 2024 election and civic engagements to come.
Leadership Academy for Health Equity Advocates
Upstreamists are increasingly seeking opportunities to shape policies far upstream that influence which communities are in harm’s way. HealthBegins is developing a leadership academy, rooted in tried-and-true models, to help those committed to health equity become more effective advocates and connect practices in Upstreamist institutions with larger policies. The academy will be designed to build skills and a community of mutual support among these emerging leaders.
Sign up here if you’d like to be notified when the leadership academy (and future advocacy opportunities) opens!
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