January is a great time to get inspired—to look to the year ahead with hope and enthusiasm. This year, our commitment to your health continues, and we’re especially excited about our newest campaign Your Health, Our Commitment.
Your Health, Our Commitment is our commitment to your health.
Activate Health is your commitment to being a health ambassador.
Together, we can, and will, help build healthier communities in BC!
And, through our collective actions, we can also build more equitable communities, where everyone has the chance to improve their health regardless of their life circumstances. This is health equity. This is our commitment. And we hope you’ll join us.
As we embark on a new year, there are many ways to Activate Health. Today, we’d like to share eight ways you can take action.
Eliminate stigma
The toxic drug poisoning crisis continues to be a public health emergency in BC. Over 1,600 people died in the first nine months of 2022 alone. As we look to 2023, we must ask ourselves how we can help save lives. One way is to eliminate stigma. Stigma sheds a negative light on people who use substances, and can cause people to hide substance use or not seek out help.
Activate Health by educating yourself on stigma, mindfully eliminating any stigmatizing language you might be using, along with calling it out when you hear it. Start by reading our seven ways you can reduce stigma.
Be a social justice champion
Because social justice is intrinsically linked to public health, when we support social justice causes, we also support public health. By standing up for human rights, women’s rights, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and Indigenous rights, to give a few examples, we can help improve the health of populations that experience various forms of discrimination and inequities.
Activate Health by exploring social justice causes that are closest to your heart, and then take action when and how you can. We wrote about some ways you can take action today.
Be a climate justice champion
Like social justice, climate justice is intrinsically linked to public health. Climate change is a public health issue that affects all of us, though some more than others. Those who already experience inequities like lower income or racism, for example, are more vulnerable to climate change and its impacts. In this way, when you stand up for social justice, you also stand up for climate justice. And when you stand up for both, you stand up for public health.
Activate Health by reflecting on the privileges you may experience, such as geographic location, race, or income, that may put you in a position for better health outcomes in the face of climate change. Then read our three ways to take action.
Stay informed
One only needs to turn on the news or go on social media to see what’s going on in the world; and it’s not always easy to see. While ignoring global atrocities and injustices might be easier than tuning into them, we encourage you to stay informed. By staying informed, we are better equipped to take action in the ways that we can.
Activate Health by staying current with what’s happening in the world, and considering the connections these events have on the health of populations directly or indirectly involved. Reading a blog post we wrote on the war in Ukraine is a great start.
Get vaccinated
Vaccination is one of the most important actions you can take for the health of our population. Vaccination is a safe and effective way to help protect yourself and others from severe illness and hospitalization. COVID-19 helped to shine a light on the impact and importance of being vaccinated. Let’s keep vaccination (all vaccinations we need) top of mind.
Activate Health by staying up-to-date with all your vaccinations, and encouraging others, including older adults, and parents, caregivers, and guardians of children to do so as well. Read our blog post to learn how vaccines work, the importance of vaccine equity, and more.
Stop misinformation
Spreading mis- and disinformation is dangerous, deadly even. We continue to see COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, which can result in severe illness, or even death, for those who refuse the vaccine. With so much information at our fingertips, we must be even more mindful of what we choose to read, watch, or hear. With more information comes more responsibility for what we consume and share.
Activate Health by learning how to decipher between correct and incorrect information, and pledging to pause before sharing information. Reading our blog post on mis- and disinformation is an excellent start.
Support your community
In November 2022, we launched Your Health, Our Commitment, our campaign committed to pandemic recovery, strengthening public health, and building resilient communities for all. In the early days of the pandemic, our Executive Director, Kristy Kerr, wrote a ‘Reflections’ piece “COVID-19, Together, Apart” speaking to the importance of kindness, caring, compassion, and community. Let us aim to continue to put these virtues at the centre of all of our actions this year.
Activate Health by learning more about “Your Health, Our Commitment” and supporting this important and timely campaign in the ways you can.
Donate
There are many ways you can Activate Health this year. As we continue our commitment to your health, and to the health of those in our communities, ongoing investments in public health are critical to ensuring our work continues, and continues strong. We are invested in supporting pandemic recovery and urgent solutions to the toxic drug poisoning crisis this year, and your gift can help us move these campaigns forward faster.
Activate Health by donating what you can this year. Whether it be a one time or monthly donation, your gift, regardless of size, is a commitment to protecting, promoting, and prolonging the health of British Columbians.
Remember: Activate Health is about doing what you can, no matter how small, knowing that your contribution is an investment that will create a positive ripple effect in the lives of those around you.
We’re committed to Activate Health this year. Please join us!