- 22 hours ago
For too long, many of us have felt like we’re surviving the healthcare system instead of being supported by it. This conversation brings together founders and leaders who are not only helping individuals better navigate healthcare today—but actively building new models of care designed with Black women in mind.
From understanding how to advocate for yourself and your family, to exploring how Black women are creating culturally grounded, tech-enabled health solutions, this session connects what we can do now with what’s being built for the future. Attendees will gain practical tools to take control of their healthcare experience and a deeper understanding of how community-driven innovation is reshaping what care looks like.
From understanding how to advocate for yourself and your family, to exploring how Black women are creating culturally grounded, tech-enabled health solutions, this session connects what we can do now with what’s being built for the future. Attendees will gain practical tools to take control of their healthcare experience and a deeper understanding of how community-driven innovation is reshaping what care looks like.
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:00All right, Essence Fest, y'all still having a good time?
00:04That's the part where y'all supposed to say, yeah, okay, thank you so much.
00:08I appreciate your audience participation out here.
00:11Okay, well, listen, I'm excited about our very next conversation.
00:14It is all about access, advocacy, and the future of care for black women.
00:21So we're going to have a panel discussion, and I'm excited about that
00:24because I believe that it is okay to take care of ourselves,
00:28especially now and in the future.
00:31So this conversation is really based on how for far too long,
00:35many of us have felt like we are surviving the healthcare system
00:39instead of being supported by it.
00:41This conversation brings together the founders and leaders
00:44who are not only helping individuals better navigate healthcare today,
00:49but actively building new models of care designed for black women in mind.
00:54From understand how to advocate for yourself,
00:57advocate for your family,
00:59as well as how to explore how black women are creating culturally grounded,
01:04tech-enabled health solutions,
01:06this session connects what we can do now
01:08and how we can build for the future.
01:11Now, if you're in the audience,
01:12you can expect to learn practical tools
01:15to take control of your healthcare experience,
01:17a deeper understanding of how community-driven innovation
01:21is reshaping what healthcare looks like,
01:24especially for black women.
01:26Now, here to moderate this conversation
01:29is someone that you might have seen yesterday,
01:31but she is back today, and I'm super excited about that.
01:34We have the one and only Jennifer Ja'Kai Johnson.
01:39Let's give Jennifer some love as she makes her way to the stage.
01:42I love it.
01:46Up next, we have Chantille Thomas of Thomas Collaborative Consulting.
01:52Yes, come on, Ms. Chantille.
01:55Look amazing.
01:56Glad to have you back today.
01:59Joining her is Crystal Dobson of Cardiac Fit.
02:04Let's go ahead and give Crystal a round of applause.
02:07Yes, Crystal.
02:11And last but certainly not least,
02:13here to round out this powerhouse panel,
02:16we have the one and only Ms. Rika Martin
02:19of Royalty Health Incorporated.
02:23All right, Ms. Ja'Kai, the stage is yours.
02:25I hope you have an amazing panel discussion.
02:28Yes, thank you so much.
02:29So, Essence, welcome, Essence family.
02:32How are you all doing today?
02:35Okay, I feel the energy now by the end.
02:37I want some more energy, okay?
02:40All right.
02:40So, our goal today is to give you three takeaways, okay?
02:44And one of those takeaways is your voice belongs in your healthcare journey.
02:50Your voice belongs in your healthcare journey.
02:53Prevention, education, and healing matter just as much as treatment.
02:58And the future of healthcare is being shaped by black women.
03:03So, I want to say a little bit about myself,
03:05and then each of our panelists are going to speak as well, okay?
03:08So, I'm Jennifer Ja'Kai Johnson of Wellness.
03:11I'm the founder and CEO, and I'm a trauma educator.
03:14And Wellness is a virtual integrative trauma care clinic for women.
03:19Good afternoon.
03:20My name is Chantel Thomas.
03:21I'm often found at the intersection of public health communication and social impact.
03:26For the last 24 years, I've worked in public health, HIV specifically,
03:30making sure that competency also lands well with community.
03:34Hey, Essence.
03:36I'm founder and CEO of Cardiac Fit,
03:38where we're focused on improving access to cardiac care and education.
03:44I am Rika Martin of Royalty Health Incorporated,
03:47where we focus on navigating healthcare
03:49and creating ecosystems for providers and patients to work together.
03:55Thank you, ladies.
03:56Clap, clap, clap, clap.
03:57We got some great minds.
03:59Some great wisdom is about to be dropped.
04:00Okay, so we're going to kick it off, all right?
04:02What problems are you seeing around black women's health
04:07within your particular space of healthcare?
04:11For me, I would say lack of access within marginalized communities.
04:15Just because it's centered in the community
04:17doesn't mean it always lands well with those who need access
04:20and understanding to said systems.
04:22So that's one of the biggest problems.
04:24We're in that community.
04:25Just because you're visible doesn't mean you're always valuable
04:28if no one is actually entering into your entity to receive services.
04:33Improving access to healthcare and cardiac care
04:36is specifically one of the things that we focus on.
04:39What I would like to say is that cardiac health
04:43is one of the biggest things that kills black women.
04:4833% of you guys don't even know that.
04:50You don't know that that's your threat.
04:53Our goal at Cardiac Fit is to show you that
04:55and to educate on what that looks like.
04:58I think health literacy is one of the main things
05:01because people aren't understanding their diagnosis,
05:03they don't understand the lifestyle changes that they need to make,
05:06and they don't understand how to take their medicine or when to take it.
05:10You know, there was a quote.
05:11I'm going to pull what you said out.
05:13You said, just because you're visual does not mean you're valuable.
05:17Oh, my God.
05:18It hit y'all.
05:19They can see you, but do you, like, really understand what I'm going through, right?
05:23All right.
05:24Okay.
05:24So let's go to the next question.
05:25What happens when access exists but understanding does not?
05:33Death, honestly, because if you can have access,
05:36if you don't understand your diagnosis,
05:37you don't understand your medications,
05:39you don't understand the proper treatment,
05:41then you're going to end up in the hospital multiple times,
05:43multiple ER visits,
05:45and ultimately you can die from not understanding.
05:49I want to ask,
05:50I want to, like, go into a subsection of this.
05:53Can you explain what access means?
05:56Meaning, like, is it, is it, do you not have insurance?
05:59Are there not certain doctors in your area?
06:01Do you live very far from the doctor?
06:03Give us an example of access.
06:05So that, it's a combination of all of that.
06:07What we have are healthcare deserts.
06:10I don't know if you guys know what that looks like.
06:12You can have a place in an urban district
06:15where there is no healthcare outlet
06:18within 5, 10, 15-mile radius.
06:22That is lack of access to healthcare.
06:25That means not having insurance,
06:28not having a physical location,
06:30not having access to a provider
06:32that can give you the specialty
06:33that you need to take care of your disease.
06:36That's the lack of access to healthcare,
06:39and that's something that Cardiac Fit
06:40is looking to improve.
06:43So, where do you see women
06:45falling through the cracks most often, then?
06:49I think women fall through the cracks
06:51because we don't speak up.
06:52We wait for the last minute to go to the doctor.
06:56We don't get regular checkups on a regular basis,
06:59and we pretty much just take it as,
07:02I'll go once I get everybody else taken care of.
07:04I would also like to add that it's, like, autonomy.
07:07We recognize our power in other spaces,
07:09but not in healthcare.
07:10So, we will send our husband's foods back.
07:13If it's not right, but when it's a provider,
07:15well, they said, not knowing that we have the power
07:18to press back and say,
07:19hey, I don't understand.
07:20I don't think that's right.
07:22I may not be an expert on my diagnosis,
07:24but oftentimes, I'm an expert of how my body feels.
07:27And so, I want us to understand
07:29that we do have the power to press back.
07:31I think most of the time,
07:33what I've seen is that we don't understand healthcare.
07:36We don't understand our insurance.
07:39We don't understand when we have a surgery,
07:41what that process after the surgery looks like.
07:44We don't understand our medications.
07:46We don't understand our prescriptions.
07:49We don't understand our insurance
07:51and how it covers our prescription.
07:53And I think what that starts with education
07:55and understanding what that looks like
07:57to move forward and expectations for our providers,
08:01for our health, for hospitals,
08:03and for everyone involved in these decisions
08:06that affect our lives.
08:07I will also say that's like fueled by systemic racism
08:10because oftentimes, when you present to the hospital
08:12with a presenting issue,
08:13it's often like just over glazed and overlooked.
08:16That's normal.
08:17No, that's not normal.
08:19That's an issue that should be looked in a little more.
08:21It doesn't go back to,
08:22well, maybe you should lose some weight.
08:24Maybe it's just this.
08:25Yes, oftentimes you may know your family history as well.
08:27And so it's just, oh, well,
08:28that may run into your family and it stops there.
08:31You know, each of you brought up something.
08:34So putting on the super cape,
08:37understanding medication,
08:39the pushback, the over glaze.
08:41You know, I also think of when you go to the doctor,
08:44you want to ask them questions
08:45and the way they look at you.
08:46Sometimes you feel like, okay,
08:47do I need to dress up when I go to the doctor
08:49or do I have to present myself a certain way?
08:52And so all of these things are concerns around
08:55what kind of checklists we should put together,
08:57which I'm going to come back to.
08:59How do dismissal and mistrust show up
09:02in real health care experiences?
09:05Dismissal and mistrust can show up in various ways
09:08from either a misdiagnosis,
09:11improper treatment of what is actually going on,
09:14and sometimes just being sent home
09:17with no clear answers as to what is wrong with you.
09:21We had a talk on yesterday about when they don't listen.
09:24And a lot of times they're not direct
09:27with not listening to you.
09:29Sometimes these are microaggressions
09:31where they listen to you,
09:33but they don't do what you ask.
09:35I think what we have to understand
09:36is that our health care is non-negotiable.
09:40We can get what we want.
09:43We just have to ask the right person
09:45and keep asking the right provider
09:48until we get the health care we deserve.
09:50And also, it shows up, again,
09:52in structural barriers and systems
09:54where you look at things that are not for us.
09:57I think J. Marion Sims is named
09:59the godfather of gynecology,
10:00and he openly operated on black women
10:03and said they don't have any nerve endings,
10:05so they can't feel pain.
10:05And these are systems that still refer to him
10:08as the godfather of gynecology.
10:10So when you show up in these spaces,
10:12some of those same practices
10:13are passed down from generation to generation.
10:16Yeah, ladies, you had me thinking about
10:19racism within health care
10:20and even thinking about going a little bit further
10:22than that, the isms.
10:23So weightism, sexism, of course racism,
10:28even capitalism in terms of your social economic background
10:31as you're coming into the office.
10:32So this leads me to ask you,
10:35why do you think health care
10:37has historically been more reactive
10:40than proactive, especially in our black communities?
10:44I think fear is one of the main targets
10:46because we've been treated so wrong through over time
10:49that we don't want to go because we're afraid.
10:51I mean, if you think about the Mississippi appendectomy,
10:54he was telling black women
10:56that you need your appendix taken out,
10:58but in all honesty,
10:59he was giving them hysterectomies.
11:01So when you've been treated like that
11:03and that fear has been passed down
11:04from generation to generation
11:05and you don't have a provider that you trust,
11:09then those issues continue from generation to generation.
11:13I think our health care system is built on being reactive.
11:18We react to heart attacks.
11:20We react to cancer.
11:22We react to kidney failure.
11:24What are we doing to prevent these things?
11:27I think prevention in itself is a really hard thing to do,
11:30but that's where we need to be leaning towards
11:33and that's something that we have to actually push forward
11:35and focus on like every day.
11:37I would also say it's also business, right?
11:40You look at these, you know, commercial insurances,
11:42you have to do X to get Y.
11:44You have to get this prescription for that prescription.
11:47This surgery costs X amount of dollars.
11:48Like hysterectomies are one of the highest grossing surgeries.
11:52So you look at things like that.
11:54For black women.
11:54For black women, exactly, right?
11:56For black women.
11:57For black women, if they know they can get X dollars,
11:59well, why would I work myself out of a job, right?
12:02So I hate to say it,
12:03but sometimes it's looked at as a business.
12:06Another thing that just came to mind,
12:08the theme I'm hearing here is confidence.
12:11And I mean confidence in ourselves
12:13and how we can better advocate for ourselves
12:16in the healthcare system.
12:18So what are some practical ways
12:21women can better navigate appointments and follow-up care?
12:25And I'm going to break that out just a little bit more.
12:27What kind of, how do we know we have a good provider?
12:31And then what does a culturally responsive provider look like?
12:37Because we want to be confident
12:39so that we don't, we're not reacting, we're proactive
12:42because we have the confidence in going to the doctor as well.
12:45I think a good provider that is actually listening to you
12:49and understanding you is a provider
12:51that listens to the choices that you want to make.
12:53You may not be ready to take that medication.
12:56You may want to try different lifestyle changes.
12:58Some doctors will push the medication
13:00and fire you as a patient
13:02if you don't follow their instructions.
13:04You don't want that kind of provider
13:06that is dismissing what you're saying,
13:09pushing medication,
13:10not doing the tests that you are requesting,
13:12not listening to your family history.
13:14So you want to make sure that the provider
13:16that you hire for you is actually for you.
13:19I think in itself, healthcare is not a one-size-fits-all.
13:23And I think sometimes you can run into providers
13:26that are looking to push people through the system
13:29versus actually looking at you as a patient,
13:32as an individual,
13:33to figure out what you want, what you need.
13:35So specifically, let's talk about individuals with hypertension.
13:39You have first lines of medication.
13:42Usually it's a diuretic.
13:44Guess what?
13:45That doesn't fit everybody.
13:48It doesn't.
13:49So having a provider that actually listens to you,
13:52look at your labs innately,
13:54and figure out what you as a patient actually needs
13:58to improve your health is what we need.
14:00I would say it's not only patient-centered,
14:03it's provider-centered as well,
14:04as it should be an equal partnership.
14:06You should feel heard.
14:07You should not feel scared to talk to your provider.
14:10You should not feel scared to ask questions.
14:12It should be a place where you feel like
14:14I'm getting all of my questions answered
14:17and all of my box checked.
14:20And I want to add, too,
14:21that you want to look for clinicians that lean in.
14:24And what I mean by that is,
14:25say, for example, you're going to the doctor
14:27and you share, you know,
14:30like, for instance,
14:31it could be a traumatic experience,
14:32a child pass, your child pass,
14:35and this doctor just keeps on going.
14:37They don't even stop and say,
14:38oh, let me acknowledge that.
14:40Like, tune in to, like,
14:41how are you acknowledging the problems
14:44and the life stories I'm telling you?
14:46Because the life stories also play a part
14:49in what's happening with your health.
14:50So if they're not going to take the time
14:52to understand the life stories
14:53and what you're going through,
14:54then how can they best help you
14:56with your health care, okay?
14:58The next question would have to be,
15:00what are the best practices
15:03for using AI tools
15:05to help with health care experiences?
15:09AI is a tool.
15:11And whether we like it or not,
15:14it's not going anywhere.
15:16So we need to learn to embrace it.
15:18What does that look like,
15:19especially with navigating health care?
15:23Everyone goes into your doctor's appointment
15:26with some sort of questions, right?
15:29Write that in your AI chat.
15:31Say, hey, I'm having back pain.
15:35What are some questions
15:37that I need to ask my doctor
15:39to get the correct diagnosis
15:41for my specific condition?
15:44AI is a tool that can help you
15:47get better outcomes
15:48and better results with your provider.
15:50It's a source of education and empowerment.
15:54And I would say use it wisely, right?
15:57So understand that data centers
15:58are sometimes often placed
15:59in marginalized communities.
16:01However, as she said,
16:01it's a tool.
16:02It could be a tracker.
16:03So if you're beginning
16:04to experience various symptoms,
16:06you can place it,
16:06hey, lately I've been experiencing X, Y, and Z.
16:09And then when you go to the doctor,
16:10you can say, oh,
16:11I have this running checklist
16:12of things I've been experiencing lately.
16:14I wanted to present this to you.
16:16What do you think it is?
16:18And also it can aid you in blood work.
16:21You know, what blood work should I ask about?
16:23When you get your blood work back,
16:25you can take the results,
16:27keep your name out of it,
16:28but you can then say, you know,
16:29what do these kind of results mean?
16:31And what other options do I have?
16:33And you can come back to the doctor asking,
16:35should I have these kind of follow-ups?
16:37Can we explore these type of, you know, options?
16:40So this is a way to put the confidence
16:42and the empowerment back in your hands.
16:45So it's not like the doctor is speaking with you.
16:48You are, me speaking to you,
16:49but you're speaking with, okay?
16:52Remember, yes, this is an MD or MP or PA,
16:56all of this.
16:56They are humans.
16:57They are people.
16:58They are souls just like us.
17:00And we're going to talk with
17:01and not be spoken to, okay?
17:04Next question.
17:05Yes, amen.
17:07Amen.
17:07Amen.
17:08Okay, this is the next question.
17:10I want to know, you know,
17:12when we think about the future of healthcare,
17:14what do you think the future of black,
17:17well, what do you think the future of healthcare
17:18is for black women?
17:19What does that look like for us?
17:23I think the future of healthcare looks like for us,
17:27honestly, empowerment.
17:29So many women are going through the empowerment phase
17:32and learning to speak up for themselves,
17:34learning what to say.
17:35So women are learning that, hey, I don't want this,
17:39and therefore you can't make me take it.
17:41So I think us understanding our empowerment,
17:45our confidence,
17:46and being on the search for providers
17:48that actually help us
17:49and understand that our skin folk and kin folk as well.
17:54So finding those providers that are for you,
17:57just for you.
17:59So I'm going to talk about in the realm of cardiac
18:01because that's my love and that's my passion.
18:03I'm going to repeat myself.
18:07Heart attacks and heart conditions
18:09are the number one killer of black women.
18:11The future of healthcare changes.
18:13Like, I don't want that to be the case.
18:1568% of black women have hypertension.
18:19I need for that number to go down.
18:21That means that we have to be educated
18:23on what that looks like.
18:24We need to go to our doctor every year.
18:27We need to monitor our blood pressures.
18:29We need to have our labs on
18:31because we have to take better care of ourselves.
18:33For me, that's the future of healthcare for black women.
18:36For me, it's for us by us.
18:38I'm looking at all the young girls
18:39that are going into STEM.
18:41I'm looking at when I show up in spaces,
18:42cultural competency.
18:44It's like started from the time I enter the door
18:46until I leave.
18:48I'm looking at providers that look like me,
18:49that get all the nuances that come along with me.
18:52I can say it in lay terms and they pick it up.
18:55I can present my whole self
18:56and I'm not feeling ashamed,
18:58embarrassed or anything like that.
19:00Yes, I love these answers.
19:02Ladies, you have me thinking too.
19:04You know, just like we spoke earlier about
19:06you can be visual but not valuable.
19:09So we have to be valuable to ourselves, okay?
19:12When we go through anything traumatic,
19:14we have to make sure we get care.
19:16Not just mental health care,
19:17but heart health care, physical care
19:19because trauma affects us as a whole person.
19:23Unhealed trauma is the hidden cause
19:25of most preventable illnesses.
19:29Eight out of 10 of the leading causes of death
19:31are associated with trauma.
19:32So think lung, kidney, heart disease, stroke, suicide.
19:36All of them are associated with trauma.
19:38So pay attention to your body.
19:40The body speaks.
19:41Remember, the body keeps score.
19:43We are advocating for ourselves.
19:45We're keeping that confidence.
19:46We're following our checklist.
19:48You can even go into AI and say,
19:49hey, help me create a checklist for myself.
19:51I want to be able to ask confidently
19:53the different questions about what's happening to me.
19:56Okay, ladies, so I'm going to end it here.
19:58We want to know, because I want to know too,
20:00where can the audience find you?
20:04You can find me at royaltyhealthinc.com
20:08and at royaltyhealthinc on all social media.
20:13You can find me.
20:14We're based out of Dallas, Texas.
20:16And so we're at www.cardiacfit.com.
20:24If you're interested, like I said,
20:26we had a When They Don't Listen talk on yesterday.
20:30So we talked about symptoms of heart health.
20:33So if you need that handout,
20:34I have a QR code that you can scan
20:36and get it directly sent to your email.
20:38You can find me at thomascollabconsulting.com.
20:43Again, that's thomascollabconsulting.com
20:45and tcc underscore collabconsulting on Instagram
20:49and all other social media handles.
20:52So again, we want to thank our panelists.
20:54We want to thank the wonderful Essence family.
20:56And just remember, your voice belongs
20:59in your healthcare journey.
21:01Prevention, education, and healing matter
21:03just as much as treatment.
21:05We can live so much longer if we took the time
21:09to really work on prevention versus reactivating.
21:12We will reactive.
21:14And lastly, the future of healthcare
21:16is being shaped by black women.
21:18So let's give it up for our black women.
21:20We over here doing things.
21:21You guys look amazing today.
21:24Yes, yes.
21:25And you can catch us at www.hellowellmiss.com.
21:29We do monthly virtual support groups for trauma
21:35with a trauma therapist.
21:36And we have a lot of more great stuff coming down the line.
21:39So check us out.
21:41And give yourself a round of applause
21:42because this was the first step of many.
21:49I don't want to wait.
21:52I'm taking, take me where I ain't been before.
21:57Can you blow my mind...
22:00I don't want to wait.
Comments