Patient advocacy meets gender equality
There's something powerful yet very hard about leaving your comfort zone. I've always spoken up for patients while pushing the boundaries for recovery in my life. Truth is, my advocacy approach needed to adapt to yield bigger results so I allowed myself to be a beginner activist again.
"Allow yourself to be a beginner, trust in your capabilities to do what you set out to do and stay consistent. How else are you going to build the grit and discipline that takes you past that goal to greater heights?" - Mitchelle Adagala
TRUE STORY
Wairimu’s health across the years
It all started with, “There’s no cure so you may need to take medications for the rest of your life for (insert every chronic illness I’ve ever been diagnosed with).
Since I was 6, battling chronic asthma and out of school for weeks, my goal was to manage symptoms to the point I could live without medication. On a global scale, I planned to share this knowledge to help others.
I would go on to battle adenomyosis and bipolar disorder but this only strengthened my resolve.
I started by advocating for people battling symptoms around me in 2009, then on my first blog and Instagram after my attempt in 2012. After a bipolar diagnosis in 2020, I centred my research on mental health communication in 2021 leading to a bipolar fundraiser in 2022.
After years of patient advocacy, I attempted a new caregiver role dubbed a “mental health support buddy” in 2023 but no psychologist qualification made it hard to stick. There had to be a faster way of driving change for patients.
Writing a public health newsletter and consultancy work in 2024 opened me up to a world of health stakeholders and has since changed my approach to pursuing change.
My career has spanned across entertainment, marketing, health, tech and financial services. The more I understand how businesses run, the better I can see how health practitioners, patients and innovators can improve patient service delivery.
SPOTLIGHT
Treatment combinations that work
Schizoaffective disorder patient gets off psychiatric medication after using medical ketogenic diet to reduce symptoms. [Watch]
Kenyan psychiatrist uses a 4-part framework in teen therapy aimed at suicide prevention. [Read]
Mental health clinic involves peer support specialists in patient treatment. [Read]
RUNDOWN
Creative solutions to gender inequality
The story
What happened?
It’s no secret that society was once oppressive towards women so gender equality efforts entailed getting more women into male-dominated spaces.
It may have been a quick way to trigger urgent action but “more women” may not have been the best success metric as inequality has since re-emerged.
Richard Reeves, journalist and author of “Boys and Men” shares sobering statistics in the US:
In 1972, 13% more men got college degrees and now there’s a 15% gap with more women getting college degrees.
24% of K12 teachers are males down from 33% in the 80s as fewer men apply for the role.
Male psychologists are down from 39% to 29% in the last decade with less than 5% under 30 years.
Why does it matter?
Beyond the numbers, applying this well-meaning but simplified approach can be costly. I learned this first-hand while pursuing my gender studies certification.
I explored how the push for female leadership in startups to attract VC funding may overlook that women too can exhibit poor leadership damaging employee development across genders.
Meanwhile, this may undermine innovations driven by male-founded startups that nurture all team members. I experienced such leadership in my time at Tulix where I thrived and continue to reap benefits from my time there.
What can we do about it?
We need better success metrics as history has shown us adding more men to various professions may not be a lasting solution.
My research revealed it may be better to prioritise skill sets that ensure high performance in the workplace regardless of gender.
Richard suggests investing in more vocational training as a fit for men’s natural strengths which shifts focus from trying to fit everyone into the same setting.
If there are women who happen to enjoy this work, they’ll be vetted on the skillset rather than mandatory representation.
Addressing men’s issues doesn’t mean being anti-women and we’ll keep exploring this.
TRIAGE
Starting psych meds
Taking psychiatric medication comes with plenty of adjustments and I had to learn a lot on my own. When considering taking medication, ask your doctors the following questions:
What symptoms are you seeing that you believe each medication you prescribe will manage so I know what to monitor?
Do I need medication to manage those symptoms or are there non-medication strategies we can start with?
Are you open to listening to how I've been managing the symptoms you've mentioned without medication?
How can I manage medication side effects and after how long can I start to see symptoms improving?
Change is a lifelong pursuit, whether for your health or larger systemic things like treatments and patient customer service. After a decade, I’m enjoying the benefits of perseverance in both areas with even more work to do. Grateful to have you along for the ride.
Insightful read