Advocating for equity during the pandemic

In response to an imminent surge in COVID-19 cases, the state of Massachusetts (MA) released its Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) guidelines in April 2020. A small group of Boston healthcare providers, community members, lawyers, ethicists and disability advocates brought to bear our collective streng...

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Published inBMJ leader Vol. 5; no. 2; pp. 127 - 129
Main Authors Eke, Onyinyechi F, Martin, Alister, Khidir, Hazar, Otugo, Onyeka, Marshall, Andrew, Suarez, Joanne C., Macias-Konstantopoulos, Wendy L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London BMJ Publishing Group LTD 01.06.2021
Subjects
Advocacy
Bioethics
Chronic illnesses
Community
Comorbidity
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disability
Emergency medical care
Health care policy
Health disparities
Leadership
Legislators
Pandemics
Patients
Physicians
Public health
Social exclusion
Social networks
Standard of care
United States > US
Massachusetts
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Summary:In response to an imminent surge in COVID-19 cases, the state of Massachusetts (MA) released its Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) guidelines in April 2020. A small group of Boston healthcare providers, community members, lawyers, ethicists and disability advocates brought to bear our collective strengths to forge a formidable coalition now known as the Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity, to champion the rights of marginalised groups that would be adversely affected by the implementation of the original MA CSC guidelines. In this coalition, members of marginalised communities were adequately represented, led discussions on the implications of implementing inequitable elements of the CSC guidelines and actively involved in creating an alternative framework. In this article, we discuss the process of building a coalition whose concerted advocacy efforts led to the revision of the MA CSC guidelines.
ISSN:2398-631X
2398-631X
DOI:10.1136/leader-2020-000380