ACAvenger leadership is committed to having presentation content be organically driven by the interests of our campaign supporters. Results from a survey to our email listserv indicated a strong wish to have our group address how local groups were reaching out to local underserved communities in King County who are historically overlooked with regards to healthcare access.
In response, we organized a panel of IPAs from non-profits within the King County In Person Assister Network which included representation from the following agencies; Public Health Seattle King County, International Community Health Services, Refugee Women’s Alliance and WithinReach. Topics addressed included: barriers facing underserved communities from accessing health insurance and health services, current and past strategies for ensuring culturally inter-competent advocacy and outreach for underserved communities and how the audience, as future health professionals can assist patients in accessing and understanding their health insurance coverage.
Over 3 dozen students from a diverse array of healthcare disciplines attended, and the event ran overtime as students had so many insightful questions! Several students were also able to connect with IPAs personally in hopes of establishing stronger ties to their own underrepresented communities.
Participant feedback:
In response, we organized a panel of IPAs from non-profits within the King County In Person Assister Network which included representation from the following agencies; Public Health Seattle King County, International Community Health Services, Refugee Women’s Alliance and WithinReach. Topics addressed included: barriers facing underserved communities from accessing health insurance and health services, current and past strategies for ensuring culturally inter-competent advocacy and outreach for underserved communities and how the audience, as future health professionals can assist patients in accessing and understanding their health insurance coverage.
Over 3 dozen students from a diverse array of healthcare disciplines attended, and the event ran overtime as students had so many insightful questions! Several students were also able to connect with IPAs personally in hopes of establishing stronger ties to their own underrepresented communities.
Participant feedback:
- “I appreciated learning about how the agencies each came up with ways to navigate the language and cultural barriers in the ACA. I didn't realize how little funding was delivered to certain groups, especially people of color, to promote signing up for insurance.”
- “I loved hearing from such a diverse group of people who really know their communities. Excellent job on getting together such a great panel!”