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accessHealthNews.net
January 2024
Volume 10 | Issue No. 80
All facets of our daily lives are directed by
policies of some sort: store return policies,
school attendance policies, workplace
safety policies, and governmental safety net
policies. But when the people most affected
by public health programs have no place
at the table during policy development,
discrimination and stigmatization often
result.
A webinar hosted by the Association of
Maternal & Child Health Programs explored
opportunities to engage and co-design
programs and policy solutions by allowing
the voices of people with lived experience
to contribute to the decision-making
process, especially as it applies to perinatal
substance abuse disorder.
Understanding intersectionality and how it
affects policymaking
To engage impacted individuals in forming
equitable trauma-informed policies, it's
crucial to understand the concept of
intersectionality. Jenne' Massie, DrPH,
MS, senior research scientist and deputy
director of the Intersectionality Research
Institute at George Washington University,
explained intersectionality as a framework
of multiple intersections of an individual's
social demographics such as race, age,
class, gender, immigration status, etc. The
interconnected nature of these elements is
key.
"Focusing on just one demographic
characteristic ignores critical information
about experiences at multiple intersections,"
noted Massie. "You can't separate 'I am
Black' from 'I am a woman.' I am all of these
things, and that's how I am experiencing
life."
Power and privilege play out differently and
shape different experiences within those
demographics, affecting social justice
and inequality. It's essential to explore
how the experiences of marginalized
("intersectionally invisible") groups can be
different and center those experiences,
especially when developing programs and
policies that affect them.
READ MORE
Mental health or substance use were contributing factors
in one of two pregnancy-related deaths and one of five
pregnancy-related deaths that were NOT due to suicide or
unintentional overdose.
