Helping Others, Help Themselves: Taking ownership of your health

Entering my first year as a full-time working adult with the Philadelphia Health Corps (PHC), I made a commitment to engage in healthy habits that I had developed during my college years. I promised to sign up for a gym membership, work out at least three times a week, play basketball on occasion and cook meals that consisted of a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Though time restrictions due to service hours make such commitments more difficult than in college, I have been quite persistent with the promises I made to myself in early September. 

As a Health and Benefits Advocate at the Family Practice and Counseling Network (FPCN) Abbottsford- Falls Clinic, serving communities in Germantown and North Philadelphia, I spend many hours providing patients with the resources to help them feel empowered for their own health as well. For my position, the first step a patient must take is to enroll in an insurance plan. I serve alongside other certified application counselors to find out which patients are not insured and then work with the patients to complete medical assistance applications.  We ask that the patient completes their application while in our office and then the patient is given the responsibility of returning to our office with supporting documents. From my experience, I’ve found that it is often times difficult for patients to follow up with our office in a timely fashion, leading to the rejection of their application for themselves and/or their children.  Initially, this led me to assume that the patient neither cared for their health nor held it as a priority; it was challenging for me to feel as though I cared more than they did.  I believed that if a patient was not properly investing in health insurance, they were most likely making other potentially damaging decisions regarding their health throughout the day as well.

One patient that I served provided me with a new perspective, however. She told me that in addition to managing the pending insurance application, she was working two jobs, caring for her children on her own, and could not find the time to go to the gym. She admitted that she had a hard time with following a schedule because she was constantly busy. I realized that her inability to find the time for follow-up with us at FPCN and her overall health were due to managing so many other factors in her day-to-day life.

Now, instead of assuming that a patient does not care for their own physical well-being, I consider factors that may be preventing them from investing in their health. I understand that not every patient has the privilege to focus on their health and the ability to adapt to a schedule with the myriad economic and social barriers that may exist. Therefore, I have taken the responsibility of helping others to help themselves. Whether that entails directly outlining everything that my patient has to do by our next meeting and aligning it with their next medical visit, I understand that I can take the first steps for someone in creating a formal agenda which prioritizes health planning and organization . Additionally, in the process I have been able to inform patients of other resources such as the clinic’s gym facility and physical therapy room. It is my duty to advocate for the benefits and resources that are available to those that decide to place an importance on their health.  Just like their guidance and perspective has helped me to grow as a professional, I hope that my advice can help patients to make healthy choices in the future.

This post was written by PHC member Chris Itua.
Chris serves with the Family Practice & Counseling Netowork at Abbottsford Falls as a Health & Benefits Advocate.