Why do Mindfulness and Diversity Matter in Public Health Advocacy?

2^nd World Congress on Rare Diseases

June 30, 2021 | Webinar

Robin Alexix Powers

Co-founder of a new nonprofit, Rareability, USA

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Mol Genet Med

Abstract :

Those who suffer from Chronic and or Rare Diseases experience a greater rate of morbidity and mortality than other populations. Those who suffer these conditions are underrepresented. One approach to offset this burden is through the act of advocacy and storytelling with a multifaceted approach in the people who engage in this skill and how they do so. Diversity in the approach taken to achieve public health policy as an example will change the outcome in the lobbyists' closure rate. If one stays engaged in a mindful and positive attitude towards the goal, policy may fare better than those who felt under prepared without the ability to apply philosophies in relation to the bill the advocates are trying to pass. An example of such is an advocate's ability to think quickly under pressure to reformat the ask in a way that the opposing representative can relate to more easily. Such as Reformatting the public health policy for rare diseases into that of a policy which will create a benefit to the whole communities involved and not only the rare disease population. By doing so it created the correct environment for myself when advocating during rare disease week for the RDLA’s in February of 2020 before the pandemic known to the USA public at that time. It was brought to light at the beginning of march. This reformatting my way of advocating and mindfully thinking what the policy maker I was addressing were in charge of aided me in creating the perfect way to explain why the Telehealth bill should be passed. This serves as only one example in which mindfulness and diversity will be addressed in this speech.