Student-Led Health Advocacy Team Addresses Critical Gaps in Youth Health Awareness
Image Credit: Remediate
Health literacy - the ability of individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to make informed health decisions - is vital to help individuals make good health decisions, improve health outcomes, reduce costs associated with health care and overall health status, and reduce disparities in areas such as access to health care and the quality and efficacy of care they receive.
Health literacy in youth is a particular area of need. Young people may struggle to access high-quality health information or accurately assess the quality of health information they receive. In addition, they can have limited agency when it comes to making their own health-related decisions, and when navigating complex healthcare systems. This is even more difficult for youth facing disparities in treatment related to their age, race, identity or other factors, or when dealing with medical malpractice.
Although health literacy in youth is understudied, according to the National Library of Medicine, 9 out of 10 adults in the US struggle with health literacy. Given that, it is reasonable to conclude that that figure is even higher when it comes to youth.
However, at the University of Chapel Hill, two students are making a difference through Remediate, a student-led health equity and patient advocacy initiative dedicated to raising awareness of healthcare disparities, particularly within underserved communities, as well as providing evidence-based resources to improve overall health literacy and health behaviors.
Closing the Gap on Youth Health Literacy
Aanandi Thakur and Rhea Kothur, the founders of Remediate, are “dedicated to raising public health awareness not only by creating educational materials but by ensuring that these resources are accessible and comprehensible.” Their journey began as a result of experiencing medial disparities and malpractice firsthand, which inspired them to ensure other young people had the information, resources and support to understand their medical rights, make good health choices for themselves, and prevent or fight back against medical discrimination, malpractice and other disparities in care.
Rhea Kothur (L) and Aanandi Thakur (R) holding copies of Remediate’s “Your Health Matters” flyer
As a result of their work, Remediate has:
Launched HeaLit, “a health campaign dedicated to empowering our next generation with health knowledge, bridging the gap between youth and health literacy“
Held a virtual health awareness convention, MedCon, that reached over 10,000 students
Organized a community awareness competition in which participants created community awareness presentations on topics related to medical malpractice or healthcare disparities
Produced a portfolio of free health information resources available on their website, including the Your Health Matters pamphlet (click here to download pdf)
Learn More
We are very excited to be able to share Aanandi and Rhea’s resources with you. Their hard work and dedication is making a real difference in the health and wellbeing of young people (and others). We look forward to seeing more of their work in the future. To learn more about Remediate, visit their website, or contact the group at remediateorg@gmail.com
Disclaimer
This content was developed by the WNC Health Policy Initiative in consultation with people and organizations with connections to the health of people of Western North Carolina. Individual or organizational opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations are those of the relevant author(s)/interviewee(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the WNC Health Policy Initiative or its host institutions of the University of North Carolina Asheville (UNCA), Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) or our funders.
