Policymakers seeking to improve health outcomes for Black Angelenos need to build trust – and that starts by listening, according to LaVonna Lewis, Vice Dean for Student Success at the USC Price School of Public Policy.
For example, healthcare providers sometimes don’t believe that patients want to make healthy choices when, in reality, healthy choices are harder to make in some parts of the city, Lewis noted.
“If you’ve always spent your life in West L.A., it never occurs to you that it’s different somewhere else,” Lewis said during the Los Angeles Urban League’s State of Black L.A. event at USC. “That’s why I say believe people when they explain to you their reality. It may not be yours, but if it’s theirs, that’s where you start.”
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Find Out MoreMeeting residents where they are was a key message from Lewis, who was a featured speaker on a panel focused on improving healthcare access and outcomes. She recalled an instance when information that L.A. residents received about their healthcare choices was at graduate degree reading level, which was useless to people who had lower literacy levels.
“When we start talking about programs and practices that are designed to bring more people in, what type of invitation is being given?” Lewis asked. “Making sure that people have information in a way that is meaningful for them, I think is the first step.”
One way to do that is to identify trusted members of the community to provide them with accurate information that they can disseminate, Lewis noted.
“Expertise comes in many fashions. There’s academic expertise and there is on-the-ground expertise,” Lewis said. “Those things have to come together.”
You can watch the full discussion from the State of Black LA event at the NBC Los Angeles YouTube page.
