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My Health Can’t Wait
Presented by: London Wills, PhD
Sponsored by J&J Healthcare Services
Dr. London Wills, Ph.D., led a conversation about the urgency of putting health first during this season’s Black Health Matters Winter Summit.
He has personal experience with what can change when you put health at the top of your to-do list.
The National Policy and Advocacy Director, Health Equity at Johnson & Johnson, described the “why” that led him to devote his life to promoting healthcare. He revealed how healthcare disparities have shown up in his childhood life. Dr. Wills described the way that physicians misled his parents into improperly medicating him after a misdiagnosis. He saw several healthcare providers who shrugged off the concerns of his family, who were worried about his neurological symptoms.
” Every time my parents asked questions, they would just continue to push them and say I’m the doctor; I know what’s best for your child,” he recalled.
Ultimately, the family connected with a provider willing to communicate effectively to get to the root of the problem. “I did find a doctor who cared enough to know and listen to what we had to say and the actual symptoms,” he said.
The experience resulted in Dr. Wills committing to” really changing the trajectory of the way health care looks for Black people.”
“I am spreading the word to people of color who look like me to make sure that they’re getting the level of educational awareness,” he said.
Dr. Wills reminded the audience of the dangers of failing to discuss health concerns until they have progressed to a severe point. He worked on the Johnson and Johnson initiative to develop the website MyHealthCantWait.com to help people continue to focus on their health when non-emergency surgeries are being rescheduled. Patients could easily forget these procedures without clear explanations of their importance. “Most of the time, we don’t want to talk about it until we find out at a stage three or stage four, and so now we have an opportunity that once we become educated that we can do more with,” he said before describing the information available on the site.
“You’ll find all types of educational awareness, tools, and resources out there that will hopefully help you have informed conversations when you’re going to talk to your providers,” he continued.
Those facing time restrictions can quickly be educated through the site’s offerings. “We have resources there that are unbranded, that will give you videos in some cases that will walk you through a condition if you go in and see a doctor, and they’re saying that you have peripheral artery disease, but they don’t have time to tell you what it is there’s a video up there that’s less than a minute that talks about what it is,” he said.
The site is intended to promote a proactive approach to healthcare widely.
Wills is working to create an environment where Black men are encouraged to “become the chief medical officer” of their families.
“When you feel something, you do something, you don’t delay it,” he told the Black men present. “If you’re going to be the head of the household, do the same thing regarding your healthcare.”
Ways You Can Take Action
The session provided practical tips for prioritizing your health.
- Use unconventional resources for education. A quick online video can offer as much information as an office pamphlet.
- Don’t put off elective procedures. Something that begins as non-essential can reach crisis mode if ignored for too long.
- Keep looking for a provider until you find one to listen to you.
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