Health Advocacy Organization
Blog
Our students will periodically use this space to publish blog posts on health advocacy issues that matter to them.
Blog Post #2:
The current political climate has offered an enormous opportunity for citizens to reflect on issues relating to sexual assault and sexual violence. One in 4 college women and one in 6 women in the general population, as well as roughly one in 17 college men and one in 33 men in the general population, will experience sexual violence. The #MeToo movement has sparked debate over the true prevalence of sexual assault in our society. But rather than blindly believing in the innocence of sexual predators, who have every reason to cover up their actions, we should instead trust those who have risked everything to come out and speak about their experiences with sexual violence.
The trauma of such an event can adversely affect health for the rest of a lifetime. Dr. Ford, the college professor who accused Supreme Court Judge nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is one of the many mental illnesses resulting from sexual violence that can severely alter quality of life. In some cases, this can even lead to death by suicide.
Sexual assault is not an issue confined to the sphere of feminism or social justice advocacy. Health care professionals play an important role in mediating the effects of sexual violence. Whether a victim requires abortion services, or is unable to escape an abusive partner, the physician has the power to advocate for their patient. Becoming well-versed in how to address these issues is crucial to providing the highest quality of health care for all.
Even more broadly, each of us has the power to ensure fair treatment and appropriate health care for those who have experienced sexual trauma. The first step is staying informed: The number of abortion providers across the United States has declined significantly in recent years. Additionally, the window in which it’s considered legal to perform an abortion procedure is growing smaller and smaller. Those who have endured sexual violence might, devastatingly, have to carry that burden of trauma with them in the form of a fetus. Children as young as 12 have to choose between the stigma of acquiring abortion, including the possibility of lack of parental consent and household retaliation, and becoming a mother. Sexual assault victims are unduly punished by having to carry their abuser’s fetus to term. Abortion services are undoubtedly safe, yet divorced from the realm of all other health care, therefore making it more difficult to access. Some must travel long distances to find areas with abortion providers. As these services are dwindling, even more barriers crop up such as cost or state legislated waiting periods.
Sexual violence affects us all. Whether you are a survivor yourself, know a loved one who has survived a traumatizing sexual event, or are raising children who are vulnerable to sexual predators, we all have a responsibility to advocate for the well-being of crime victims. There are so many ways to advocate and get involved. Join your local Planned Parenthood mailing list, or sign up for Pro-Choice NARAL in your state. Locally, refer your friends to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, the Center for Reproductive Health, or the Circle Health Center for trauma-informed treatment. Beyond working on a response, we can also work on prevention. Teach our children that consent is necessary for sexual activity; no means no; coercion or use of force is sexual assault. It is not only a social imperative, but a health necessity.
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center
https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/about/state-affiliates/
https://clevelandrapecrisis.org/
https://www.reproductiverights.org/
http://www.circlehealthservices.org/
Author: Maia Delegal
The current political climate has offered an enormous opportunity for citizens to reflect on issues relating to sexual assault and sexual violence. One in 4 college women and one in 6 women in the general population, as well as roughly one in 17 college men and one in 33 men in the general population, will experience sexual violence. The #MeToo movement has sparked debate over the true prevalence of sexual assault in our society. But rather than blindly believing in the innocence of sexual predators, who have every reason to cover up their actions, we should instead trust those who have risked everything to come out and speak about their experiences with sexual violence.
The trauma of such an event can adversely affect health for the rest of a lifetime. Dr. Ford, the college professor who accused Supreme Court Judge nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is one of the many mental illnesses resulting from sexual violence that can severely alter quality of life. In some cases, this can even lead to death by suicide.
Sexual assault is not an issue confined to the sphere of feminism or social justice advocacy. Health care professionals play an important role in mediating the effects of sexual violence. Whether a victim requires abortion services, or is unable to escape an abusive partner, the physician has the power to advocate for their patient. Becoming well-versed in how to address these issues is crucial to providing the highest quality of health care for all.
Even more broadly, each of us has the power to ensure fair treatment and appropriate health care for those who have experienced sexual trauma. The first step is staying informed: The number of abortion providers across the United States has declined significantly in recent years. Additionally, the window in which it’s considered legal to perform an abortion procedure is growing smaller and smaller. Those who have endured sexual violence might, devastatingly, have to carry that burden of trauma with them in the form of a fetus. Children as young as 12 have to choose between the stigma of acquiring abortion, including the possibility of lack of parental consent and household retaliation, and becoming a mother. Sexual assault victims are unduly punished by having to carry their abuser’s fetus to term. Abortion services are undoubtedly safe, yet divorced from the realm of all other health care, therefore making it more difficult to access. Some must travel long distances to find areas with abortion providers. As these services are dwindling, even more barriers crop up such as cost or state legislated waiting periods.
Sexual violence affects us all. Whether you are a survivor yourself, know a loved one who has survived a traumatizing sexual event, or are raising children who are vulnerable to sexual predators, we all have a responsibility to advocate for the well-being of crime victims. There are so many ways to advocate and get involved. Join your local Planned Parenthood mailing list, or sign up for Pro-Choice NARAL in your state. Locally, refer your friends to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, the Center for Reproductive Health, or the Circle Health Center for trauma-informed treatment. Beyond working on a response, we can also work on prevention. Teach our children that consent is necessary for sexual activity; no means no; coercion or use of force is sexual assault. It is not only a social imperative, but a health necessity.
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center
https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/about/state-affiliates/
https://clevelandrapecrisis.org/
https://www.reproductiverights.org/
http://www.circlehealthservices.org/
Author: Maia Delegal
Blog Post #1:
While those in the medical field have long been associated with offering support and succor, the phenomenon of the explicitly labeled physician advocate is a far more recent one. In light of this novelty defining just what this new role actually means and consists of requires continuing effort and exploration. However, it is clear is that it cannot be rooted in the old paradigm in which “the physicians are the natural advocates (attorneys) of the poor” with its implications of class superiority. This need to balance moving away from the past while simultaneously adapting to an unclear future prompted Case Western to offer a new class in healthcare advocacy for its M1 students. This class arguably provides room for exploration free from the potential burdens imposed by institutional memory built under the older perspective. This course is made to help physicians-in-training add a different methodology to what is taught in their curriculum. It is imperative to realize that becoming a strong advocate is more than simply understanding the content but thinking about the context one is in in turn creating a better understanding of the content. As is shown through this course, medical school resides knowledge in the individual but advocacy resides power in the collective.
At the heart of the classes’ first session and the enterprise as a whole is working towards how best to utilize the social capital we accrue even early in our careers. Many of us enter medical school and the profession as idealists, so making peace with the fact that we must accept what can often feel like unearned respect and use it to influence others can certainly be difficult. As our first lecturer informed us however, to squander a resource because we think it impure is itself an act of privilege. One possible solution lies in lending our support to the broader discourse simply through our presence. For example, this is why medical professionals are always advised to wear their white coats when engaged in public actions and those who can generally told to dress as nice as possible so that the movement cannot be so readily dismissed as consisting only of the dissatisfied or disenfranchised. Ultimately though, our voices will be called upon, so the deeper solution may lie in learning the right story to tell. Advocacy is at its heart storytelling, so just as we look to patients’ social and family histories as much as their medical ones to shape their diagnosis, we ought to apply these skills to better serve as channels for our allies’ words and in better reaching those whose opinion we seek to move. When we tell these stories, we must remember that our patient’s problems are our problems. As physicians in training, we must learn to leverage our social capital in order to give a voice to the story which in turns becomes not only the patients story, but ours. It is important to recognize the power we have to learn from the stories of our patients and advance them in ways they could not.
Ultimately serving as both a doctor and an advocate is a difficult enterprise given the weight of tradition which frames and defines being a physician, as well as the flexibility necessary for true advocacy. It is our hope that through this class placed so early in interested student’s medical careers, the answers will be clearer by the time they move into their careers.
Authors: Victoria El-Hayek, Adil Menon
While those in the medical field have long been associated with offering support and succor, the phenomenon of the explicitly labeled physician advocate is a far more recent one. In light of this novelty defining just what this new role actually means and consists of requires continuing effort and exploration. However, it is clear is that it cannot be rooted in the old paradigm in which “the physicians are the natural advocates (attorneys) of the poor” with its implications of class superiority. This need to balance moving away from the past while simultaneously adapting to an unclear future prompted Case Western to offer a new class in healthcare advocacy for its M1 students. This class arguably provides room for exploration free from the potential burdens imposed by institutional memory built under the older perspective. This course is made to help physicians-in-training add a different methodology to what is taught in their curriculum. It is imperative to realize that becoming a strong advocate is more than simply understanding the content but thinking about the context one is in in turn creating a better understanding of the content. As is shown through this course, medical school resides knowledge in the individual but advocacy resides power in the collective.
At the heart of the classes’ first session and the enterprise as a whole is working towards how best to utilize the social capital we accrue even early in our careers. Many of us enter medical school and the profession as idealists, so making peace with the fact that we must accept what can often feel like unearned respect and use it to influence others can certainly be difficult. As our first lecturer informed us however, to squander a resource because we think it impure is itself an act of privilege. One possible solution lies in lending our support to the broader discourse simply through our presence. For example, this is why medical professionals are always advised to wear their white coats when engaged in public actions and those who can generally told to dress as nice as possible so that the movement cannot be so readily dismissed as consisting only of the dissatisfied or disenfranchised. Ultimately though, our voices will be called upon, so the deeper solution may lie in learning the right story to tell. Advocacy is at its heart storytelling, so just as we look to patients’ social and family histories as much as their medical ones to shape their diagnosis, we ought to apply these skills to better serve as channels for our allies’ words and in better reaching those whose opinion we seek to move. When we tell these stories, we must remember that our patient’s problems are our problems. As physicians in training, we must learn to leverage our social capital in order to give a voice to the story which in turns becomes not only the patients story, but ours. It is important to recognize the power we have to learn from the stories of our patients and advance them in ways they could not.
Ultimately serving as both a doctor and an advocate is a difficult enterprise given the weight of tradition which frames and defines being a physician, as well as the flexibility necessary for true advocacy. It is our hope that through this class placed so early in interested student’s medical careers, the answers will be clearer by the time they move into their careers.
Authors: Victoria El-Hayek, Adil Menon