Health & Justice

Health & Justice is an advocacy initiative whose focus is to provide students with unique perspectives of multiple types of justice in our community and their impacts on health care. Students have an opportunity to engage with these types of justice and learn about the structural, social, cultural factors in play; the social determinants associated with the health of those within them; and to engage in reflection and action related to interventions to improve the life circumstances and health outcomes of the individuals.

Students can participate in community tours, injustice simulations, and in an outreach opportunity with REVIVE! Opioid Overdose Trainings which provide a response to an opioid addiction pandemic both nationally and in Hampton Roads.

The Need:

• Barriers to health care can include non-medical factors, such as economic status, housing, transportation, and education, which are known as social determinants of health which can account for 80% of health outcomes
• Awareness of and immersion in different justice types affirm a common-good society that treats its citizens in a fair, impartial, respectful and dignified manner allowing them to live in life free from unjust discrimination, social, economic & housing, educational, environmental, and racial oppression

Example Student Activities:

• Attend a Mental Health Docket in local district court and meet with the judge to discuss mental health changes in the criminal justice system
• Tour local Redevelopment Project and learn about housing justice in Norfolk’s growth
• Participate in a poverty simulation to learn how the economic justice system impacts health care choices
• Media Round Table Discussions with pees and community members to discuss documentaries, art, and local stories