For Us All

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About

The “For Us All” campaign is our new advocacy initiative fighting for transformative health justice through social accountability within health professions training institutions. The campaign seeks to inspire a re-imagining of the social contract to see a world where there is equal health for us all. It is a vehicle to galvanize our vast community of committed health professionals from across the United States and internationally who have connected with SMA through our conferences over the past decade. Together, we will use this campaign to organize towards structural changes that align with SMA’s vision of training health professionals as agents of more equitable health care.

Read our full introduction.

For Us All

Join us for a live webinar introducing the For Us All campaign on Tuesday February 11, 12-1pm (ET)

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Mission

The For Us All Campaign is dedicated to fighting for transformative health justice through social accountability within health professions training institutions, and re-imagining the social contract to see a world where there is equal health for us all.

Guiding Pillars

The For Us All campaign has has 5 guiding pillars:

1. Workforce Diversification

Diversifying our healthcare workforce is a proven strategy for addressing health disparities. To support this progression, health professions pathway programs should be prioritized for historically excluded communities within the health fields, such as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander communities, as well as those marginalized by disability, language, class or place. Workers within healthcare institutions should also be provided professional advancement opportunities. These types of initiatives bolster employment, promote social mobility, and raise the economic floor in the region for those who most often face barriers in pursuing these fields.

Historically excluded students and faculty have consistently led the way in advancing equity at institutions that were not originally designed with them in mind. These individuals work tirelessly to make institutions more inclusive for patients, workers, and students, often without receiving adequate recognition or support in return. We believe it is crucial to acknowledge their contributions, compensate them fairly, and provide professional and financial resources, such as funding and affinity support networks, to ensure their work is sustainable.

Anti-racism and health equity curricula should be mandatory and standard—they are crucial for preparing health workers as health justice advocates. Health equity principles and content should be included in educational competencies, assessment, disciplinary priorities, and institutional policies, and educational resources should be directed to preparing trainees to meet the needs of patient populations that are most structurally oppressed. This sets the foundation to orient the future of the profession—our learners—to becoming the health justice champions of tomorrow.

Centering community power is fundamental to addressing the root causes of health disparities for the communities that healthcare institutions serve. Whether it be increased community oversight of institutional activities and resource allocation, representation in admissions and institutional boards, or maintaining access and funding for key safety net lifelines like FQHCs, empowering the community must be an explicit goal in our work. We must honor the agency of legacy residents who are not only those most impacted by gentrification and displacement, but are the foundation of the communities we serve.

Our health system historically has caused deep harm to many. Healthcare institutions ought to engage in processes that acknowledge and educate their own students and workers of historical harms, while addressing the needs of those harmed. These processes aim to repair exploitative relationships between institutions and the communities they serve, building a foundation of trust, reciprocity, and shared governance.

  1. Workforce Diversification – Diversifying our healthcare workforce is a proven strategy for addressing health disparities. To support this progression, health professions pathway programs should be prioritized for historically excluded communities within the health fields, such as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander communities, as well as those marginalized by disability, language, class or place. Workers within healthcare institutions should also be provided professional advancement opportunities. These types of initiatives bolster employment, promote social mobility, and raise the economic floor in the region for those who most often face barriers in pursuing these fields.
  2. Institutional Support for Historically Excluded Groups – Historically excluded students and faculty have consistently led the way in advancing equity at institutions that were not originally designed with them in mind. These individuals work tirelessly to make institutions more inclusive for patients, workers, and students, often without receiving adequate recognition or support in return. We believe it is crucial to acknowledge their contributions, compensate them fairly, and provide professional and financial resources, such as funding and affinity support networks, to ensure their work is sustainable.
  3. Anti-Racist and Justice-Oriented Health Education – Anti-racism and health equity curricula should be mandatory and standard—they are crucial for preparing health workers as health justice advocates. Health equity principles and content should be included in educational competencies, assessment, disciplinary priorities, and institutional policies. Educational resources should be directed to preparing trainees to meet the needs of patient populations that are most structurally oppressed. Additionally, institutions must have mechanisms to ensure retention in training for those most disproportionately impacted by attrition within health fields.
  4. Centering Community Power – Centering community power is fundamental to addressing the root causes of health disparities for the communities that healthcare institutions serve. Whether increased community oversight of institutional activities and resource allocation, to maintaining access and funding for key safety net lifelines like FQHCs, empowering the community must be an explicit goal in our work. All service learning and community benefit dollars should be directed towards community-identified needs through participatory processes. Additionally, supervised community accountability councils and representation within administrative and leadership bodies of health institutions (i.e., admissions committees, Board of Directors) can return agency back to legacy residents who have been most impacted by gentrification and displacement.
  5. Repairing Harm with Community Redress – Our health system historically has caused deep harm to many. Healthcare institutions ought to engage in processes that acknowledge and educate their own students and workers of historical harms, while addressing the needs of those harmed. These processes aim to repair exploitative relationships between institutions and the communities they serve, building a foundation of trust, reciprocity, and shared governance.

Get Involved

Join us on February 11 from 12-1pm Eastern for our upcoming webinar where we will formally introduce the For Us All campaign to everyone in our network, and will be open for questions about how to get involved. Register using the link below.

Register for our webinar

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Champion Spotlight

The Social Mission Alliance features Social Mission Champions on our social media accounts and blog. The series highlights the important work done by those who are advancing health equity and addressing the health disparities of the society in which it exists. If you’d like to be considered for a Social Mission Champion feature, complete the form below.