Advocacy Internship Reflections by Student Jonathan Herrera

Jonathan Herrera

MS 4
Albany Medical College

I hope to get a better understanding of local, state, and federal politics. Once I understand the process more, I’m hoping it will give me the ability to better influence it. It’s no secret that politics can have a huge impact on the lives of those subjected to it. Therefore, my goal will be to modify it in such a way that it will improve the health of the community. Medicine has taught me a lot about health; therefore, I am now looking for the best way to improve it. And I believe politics is a crucial component in making that happen.

I believe politics is crucial towards improving the health of the community because it has been crucial in the past. Medicare has been said to cut elderly poverty by over 50%, Social Security has cut elderly poverty by over 40%, and just a couple of years ago, the extended child tax credit cut child poverty by over 40%. Why is this significant to the health of the nation? Because socioeconomic status (SES) is considered the number one factor affecting a person’s health. And it is often the people in the low SES bracket which suffer from extensive negative health outcomes. Thus, by reducing poverty, you increase the population’s SES, which in turn increases their health outcomes. Politics can also make higher educational attainment more affordable, which further improves a person's SES and health behavior. And it isn’t just by combating poverty through government spending that health is improved. Regulatory policies like vaccine mandates and ensuring safe food and drinking water are also big players. Given, our outcomes are also a product between our interaction with the environment.

However, it hasn’t all been beneficial policies. Politics also has the power to harm certain communities. For example, the New Deal resulted in redlining which led to segregated racialized poverty, excluded labor protections for farm workers, and reinforced many gender inequalities (e.g., unequal pay). Special interest groups have also consistently been allowed to undermine the health of the community in the name of profit (e.g., keep toxic chemical exposures unregulated, consistently stymie health care reform, keep tax loopholes in place which diminishes the government’s ability to fund beneficial community projects, etc.)

So, if I haven’t made it clear yet, politics has the potential to influence health in a big way. Therefore, I need to better understand politics. And I believe the NYACP advocacy internship will be a great way for me to do that. I look forward to more prominently engaging with legislation and our elected officials in order to increase positive health outcomes. I am also hoping to utilize this knowledge to further educate others in the community and promote further beneficial social change.