Safeguarding in Advocacy
Advocacy is mentally draining and can lead to mental health issues, therefore it is important that you set healthy boundaries. These boundaries can include setting a pace that fits with your other needs as a person, learning to say "no", or fully stopping if it becomes overwhelming.
We have provided testimonials from other advocates on how they deal with the mental burden of advocacy. We will also be adding notes from GP's and mental health experts.
The Relationship Between Stress and Advocacy
Araceli and Daniel from Centric Lab speak on how building and sustaining environmental justice advocacy can impact our stress systems. They are both neuroscientists with a focus on the relationship between stress and health.
This episode highlights the need for self care and sets the pace for the rest of the section on Self Care in Advocacy.
Amplifying and Silencing Black Voices
We spoke with David Smith from Wandsworth, who has been a clean air advocate for about a decade, ranging from air quality data findings to engagement with local groups and institutions. He speaks about the ups and downs of his own journey in advocacy, the mental burdens he has had to overcome, and gives some great, reflective advice on those entering the environmental health justice space.
Key Learnings:
1. Always get paid for your work when joining panels or speaking events. This is your expertise and time!
2. Take time off for yourself and those around you.
3. Don't do it alone, join a group or do it with another person.
Speaking to the GP About a Child’s Air Pollution-Related Health as a Parent/Carer
In this audio session Dr Emily Parker shares her guidance and support for parents and carers showing concern about how air pollution affects their children. Emily helps parents and carers understand the systemic nature how children are affected by air pollution and some opportunities and limitations of your doctor in supporting how you identify these health concerns and support your advocacy. .
Key Learnings:
1. Due to a lack of wide education within healthcare professional training around air pollution, your specific doctor may not be versed at addressing your pollution related healthcare concerns. The standard approach taught to doctors is to treat air pollution is to suggest behavioural changes on you as an individual.
2. Your doctor may be interested but limited in their abilities to support you due to time and resource limitations. Directing them to resources and templates that help them for tasks such as writing letters on your behalf can aide them in providing this support. There resources such as this RCPCH Air Pollution Companion Advocacy Toolkit that can support healthcare professionals in becoming advocates.
4. Talk to your GP about both the mental and physical burdens from pollution can be a healthy use of their services.
Speaking to Your GP About Air Pollution-Related Health Concerns
Dr Joanna Dobbin speaks to us on how you can approach your GP to effectively leverage their role as primary care specialists in supporting how you identify and document your health concerns related to air pollution. Joanna breaks down some of the important, but not always emphasized, ways in which doctors can capture some of air pollution's physical and mental impacts on patients and help create formal resources for individual or community advocacy
Key Learnings:
1. GP notes are legal notes, so make sure you share your health changes for your GP to document and ask for tests or referrals, where relevant.
2. The GP might likely social prescribe you to local groups to address aspects of the issues you have shared. Social prescribing does not substitute for the role of medical professional support.
3. If your GP is not sure about their abilities to support you in addressing pollution related health, but are interested in being more supportive, direct them to best practices, such as Greener Practice or this lesson, where peers provide this guidance.
