NURSE PRACTITIONER TINA BAXTER GIVES CAMEO KING AN AROMA TOUCH MASSAGE AT BAXTER ’ S OFFICE ON LINCOLN STREET IN ANDERSON .
health care . “ If you ’ re not of value to the people who have the money , they ’ re not going to invest in you or where you live ,” she explains . “ The people they don ’ t feel have the value , a lot of times , they go without stores , health clinics and food markets . That ’ s the way I see our society here .”
Health care begins with quality food , which can be hard to find in Anderson ’ s westside “ food desert ,” where residents have to travel to access quality food . This poses a problem , Nave notes , because many westside residents don ’ t have a means of transportation .
Insurance is another concern . Some jobs do not provide health insurance , which can put employees at a disadvantage .
When the Affordable Care Act was implemented in 2019 , about 12 % of Black Americans under the age of 65 were uninsured , according to the U . S . Department of Health and Human Services .
Nave retired from a local hospital in 2019 . During her career there , she says , she received training regarding how to treat people from various cultures , but never how to treat African Americans .
“ We do have to focus on access , on prevention and treatment . To do that , you have to meet the people where they are ,” she explains . “ You can ’ t have a big hospital somewhere far away that they can ’ t even get to and every time they want to get to it , it ’ s ( by ) an ambulance and they don ’ t have insurance to pay for it , so they don ’ t go .”
Nurse practitioner Wendy Shannon lists food deserts , crises in race relations and unequal opportunities in employment as effects of racism . Racism was declared a local public health emergency by Anderson Black Nurses Association in 2021 .
Not being able to take care of self or others could be a sign of a mental health issue and can result in a person not having money to pay for basic necessities , Shannon says .
“ If their bills aren ’ t paid , or their children aren ’ t taken care of , or they don ’ t have enough money to do the things that they need to … those things are rooted in mental health ,” Shannon says .
Change would have to come through nonprofits , Shannon contends . Other programs can be expensive and inaccessible . •
2023 Diversity Magazine 11