March 12, 2008: Two New Health Care Justice Resources!

Vision and Voice: Faithful Citizens and Health Care:  a new interfaith
adult education resource, is now available for faith communities wanting
to engage in our nation's dialogue about health care reform.  It may be
downloaded FREE from www.visionandvoice.org

and

A four-hour documentary series exploring America's racial and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Visit the web site at: http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/

Only some things are health-directed, but EVERYTHING is health-related" —Guy Steuart, Former Department Chair Health Behavior and Health Education University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Face of Inadequate Health Care May Look Like Yours and Mine!

Poster is used with permission from "This Is What Democracy Looks Like.:  Original painting by Dennis Detoye, winner of the Bread & Roses Juried Arts Exhibition organized by St Louis JWJ.  Order the original poster online at www.jwj.org or call jwj at
(314) 644-0466. 

Our health is uniquely interfiled and interwoven in everything that we do. We cannot function without good health. And, this means functioning on all dimensions of health—mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.  The mission of Health Care Justice is to assist the United Church of Christ in all its settings to understand health and health care in a wholistic way, and to encourage advocacy on health-related issues. 

In collaboration with other health-related UCC and national organizations, the program's implementation thrust is to plan programs, coordinate strategies and activities, develop resources and recommend public policy positions on health and health-related issues.

Health Care Justice is mandated by General Synod Eighteen - a pronouncement and priority goal to "enlist all members of the UCC and its constituent parts to work for the establishment of an affordable accessible health care system for all persons residing in the United States; General Synod Twenty-One - a resolution "reclaiming the ministry of health and healing" that encourages all UCC churches should establish or designate a body t address health and human service issues confronting members and their communities. 

In carrying out these mandates, the Health Care Justice Program collaborates with the UCC Faith Community Nurse and Physician's Networks; Parish Life and Leadership's Inclusive Ministry program to provide support for the UCC Disabilities Ministries and the UCC Mental Illness Network; Health and Wholeness Advocacy Ministry to provide HIV/AIDS information; The Council for Health and Human Service Ministries to develop ways that local churches and conferences can work more closely with CHHSM agencies; COREM constituency groups to develop and carry out health objectives specific to individual racial and ethnic cultures; and specific health and wellness interests identified by UCC constituent i.e., aging, substance abuse.