*LOS ANGELES – OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, the leading network for Black women, announced today their first ever OWN YOUR HEALTH initiative, a campaign partnering with health equity leaders to provide tools and resources that will empower Black women to own their health in 2021 and beyond.
OWN YOUR HEALTH aims to bring awareness, education, resources, and a sense of community to address the unique health concerns facing Black women today. This multi-platform campaign is designed to inspire and encourage the OWN audience to put herself and her health and well-being first. OWN YOUR HEALTH expands on the success of OWN’s first ever pro social campaign OWN YOUR VOTE, a bipartisan registration and get-out-the-vote initiative that partnered with national and local grassroots and voting rights organizations during the 2020 elections.
OWN YOUR HEALTH leads with powerful narrative and action exploring the full range of mental, physical and social/emotional health by launching new initiatives quarterly, with messaging, impact and tools that are informed, educational, relevant, and up to date with the latest developments as it relates to health and wellness. The campaign also provides opportunities for OWN brand partners to support with resources and options for healthier lifestyles.
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Key insights from the National Institute of Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, among others, show that Black women have higher rates of many illnesses including hypertension, diabetes, breast cancer, stroke, and lupus and this is often attributed to a lack of access to local healthcare providers, fewer early screenings for prevention, and lack of proper follow-up care. Additionally, Black health disparities often exist as a result of systemic racism within the United States healthcare system, racial segregation of neighborhoods, and racism-related chronic stress. These issues follow a year of tragic and traumatic anniversaries, COVID-19, and a lack of Black health care providers and specialists, which are just a few key considerations affecting health outcomes, lack of health equity across socioeconomic status, trust, and misdiagnosis in the Black community. With these issues in mind, the OWN YOUR HEALTH campaign focuses on addressing the physical, mental and social/emotional aspects of health for and about Black women.
OWN YOUR HEALTH focuses on three key pillars affecting Black women’s health:
- Proactive Prevention – including routine screenings, nutrition, health education and accountability.
- The Unspoken – including fertility, motherhood, sexual and relationship health, trauma financial health and treatments.
- Superwoman – source of pressure many Black women regularly experience – the obligation to project an image of strength and to suppress emotions, to resist accepting help or admitting vulnerability and prioritizing caregiving to others
Key health equity leaders serving as advisors to the OWN YOUR HEALTH initiative include:
- Dr. Maysa Akbar, PhD
American Psychological Association’s Chief Diversity Officer, Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale, CEO & Founder Integrated Wellness
- Dr. Michelle A. Albert, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine and Cardiologist, Associate Dean of Admissions, University of California at San Francisco
President, Association of Black Cardiologists
President-Elect, American Heart Association (7/1/21)
- Reverend Shavon Arline-Bradley, MPH, MDiv
Founding Principal, R.E.A.C.H. Beyond Solutions
Co-Founder, Health Equity Cypher
- Dr. Joia Adele Crear-Perry, MD, FACOG
OBGYN and Founder & President, National Birth Equity Collaborative
- Dr. Pamela Oliver, MD, FACOG
OBGYN and Executive Vice President of Novant Health, President of Novant Health Physician Network
- Reverend Tawana Thomas-Johnson
Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, American Cancer Society
- Dr. Melicia Whitt-Glover, PhD
Inaugural Executive Director, Council on Black Health
President and CEO, Gramercy Research Group, Winston-Salem, NC
Please see additional information on the OWN YOUR HEALTH Advisory Board HERE.
“At OWN, we are always striving to meet our audience where she is and to serve her needs. This important initiative supports and empowers Black women, and it has never been more critical to use our wide-reaching platform to ensure they have the tools and resources needed to improve their health and well-being.” said Tina Perry, president OWN. “COVID-19 and the racial justice movement have also highlighted the need for urgent policy reform to balance disparities that exist in healthcare for Black women and we look forward to working with our distinguished advisory council on this campaign that will support and uplift our community.” DRAFT
Link to OWN YOUR HEALTH Website: www.ownyourhealth.tv
Social Media Handles:
Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/907295180105969/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ownyour // @OWNYour
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ownyour // @OWNYour
Links to Studies Cited:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447123/
https://magazine.jhsph.edu/2020/black-womens-biggest-health-issue-system
https://www.lupus.org/news/black-women-develop-lupus-at-younger-age-with-more-lifethreatening-complications https://www.self.com/story/lupus-women-of-color
About OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is the first and only network named for, and inspired by, a single iconic leader. Oprah Winfrey’s heart and creative instincts inform the brand and the magnetism of the channel. OWN is a leading destination for premium scripted and unscripted programming from today’s most innovative storytellers. OWN connects with its audience wherever they are, inspiring conversation among a global community of like-minded viewers on social media and beyond. Launched on January 1, 2011, OWN is a joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery, Inc. The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform Oprah.com. Access OWN anytime, anywhere on WatchOWN.tv or across mobile devices and connected TVs. For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own and https://press.discovery.com/us/own/.
source: OWN
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