Environmental Health was probably the least explored social determinant until recent times. The examples in Flint opened the eyes of a nation to see how much government involvement, or lack thereof, and injustice can contribute to the health and safety of communities. I believe Flint is an example of the type of justice the Black Lives Matter movement is trying to achieve. While social and racial injustices are widely addressed in the movement, health, safety, and education also play a big part. Flint was an example of the Black Lives Matter movement in which a flawed system that did not give low-income communities the same opportunities to thrive, and produced a large amount of damage. Chemical and lead found in their drinking water affects IQ and contributes to crime. In an upstream model, this is a huge correlation of how a lack of a fair system contributes to a lower quality of life, worse health outcomes, and reduces the opportunities for a thriving a community.
Hi Selenne,
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Hopefully bringing the social determinants of health to light in low income communities can promote change and health equity.
Environmental justice is an important part of the struggle to improve and maintain a clean and healthful environment, especially for those who have traditionally lived, worked and played closest to the sources of pollution, and for that we need to support the environmental justice organization to deliver our sounds for justice among all the people.
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