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The Leadership Lens
Bridging the Healthcare Divide: Advancing Equity Through Advocacy
September 17, 2024
Despite possessing the best technologies and trained professionals in the world, and despite spending more money on healthcare than anywhere in the world, the United States of America has the worst outcomes of any developed country in the world when it comes to life expectancy, infant and maternal mortality.
Our current healthcare system is broken. It is set up in a way that prefers and rewards treatment over prevention. The major beneficiaries of our current US healthcare system are the insurance and pharmaceutical companies, shareholders and large institutions.
We find variability in care and outcomes between cities and states, between the rich and the poor, between the privileged and people of color and minorities, between the non-insured, underinsured and insured individuals. We also notice fragmentation of our system. The lack of friendly, usable and accessible medical records, regardless of where a patient receives care, leads to so much waste in repeating and replicating tests. Being unaware of previous medical records such as meds and allergies can lead to mistakes and poor outcomes, it also leads to missing important timely preventive health maintenance and immunizations.
Legislators are not motivated or equipped to fix healthcare. They have been trying to place bandaids on a deep bleeding deadly wound. A radical solution should be spearheaded by experts in medicine and organizational financial economics. First, standardize patient care using best evidence-based care. Second, use unified electronic medical records. Third, cover all preventative, evidence based care for every citizen in the United States. Finally, limit hospitals, insurance and pharmaceutical companies to reasonable profits.
Billions of dollars are wasted every year in multiple sectors with little to no societal benefits. Wasted money is enough to insure every citizen multiple times over. Health is a human rights issue. The United Nations Declaration of Human rights starts with “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well being…”. A healthier society is a happier and more productive society.
The Interfaith Leadership Council (IFLC) has long been an advocate for the rights of individuals and disadvantaged groups, working to promote healthier, more equitable access to healthcare. The Council has dedicated significant resources to providing and sharing available preventive care options and evidence-based treatments aimed at reducing healthcare disparities. As part of this effort, the Interfaith Health Equity Partnership (IHEP) plays a key role in helping the organization address systemic inequalities in healthcare, helping to further the IFLC’s mission developing and strengthening relationships among the diverse communities in the metro Detroit area and providing opportunities for individuals to learn from each other and be changed together. We are fortunate to have Board members with strong healthcare backgrounds who actively leverage their professional networks and resources to inform and support the IFLC’s focus on health equity.
Interfaith organizations like the InterFaith Leadership Council have a unique ability to bring together diverse communities around important social issues like health care inequality. By engaging multiple faith traditions, organizations can advocate for the importance of equitable healthcare access and make the message more relatable across various cultural contexts. The ripple effect of these outreach efforts can influence this issue is received and the positive actions that are taken. In this way, the IFLC can impact lives in our local communities and work toward ever expanding our reach. The current healthcare system may be broken, but together we can continue to educate, empower and enhance lives, one individual at a time.
