Decolonizing Public Health and Wellness for People of Color: Unlearning, Relearning, and Liberating

Description

Stress, burnout, fatigue, resilience: often buzzwords in the wellness space. But, how effective are the programs and policies we preach — especially for people of color disproportionately affected by mental health concerns and intergenerational trauma?

People of color doing the ‘work’ on the day-to-day are faced with unique and often overlooked challenges when it comes to resiliency, health, and well-being. So, what can we do about it? This workshop will introduce what decolonizing health and wellness means from a public health lens, unlearning and relearning what resilience is for a person of color. You will leave this interactive session with a better understanding of the intersection of race/ethnicity and culture with your health and occupation, as well maximize your change-making capacity and strategize for fostering systemic changes to improve our health equity and well-being as change agents of color.

*Note: This session is intended for people of color in this space. If you do not identify as a person of color, we suggest refraining from this session to preserve the integrity and purpose of the content. If a white person joins, I will preface the session with the same explanation: If you are a white person and still want to attend, we ask kindly that you take a more “observer” role in this session so we can amplify the voices of POC and create a safe environment for sharing.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand and unpack the intersections of public health and DEI as POC change agents
• Unlearn and relearn culturally relevant practices to fight trauma and fatigue for POC
• Brainstorm ways to begin systemic change to prioritize well-being and liberation for POC