Throughout this 12 months’s annual “Worldwide Human Rights Day” awards celebration, the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Fee will spotlight fairness and entry to healthcare, mentioned Leslie Dominguez-Santos.
“We’re trying on the broad image of well being care, and all of the elements that come into play like housing, wholesome meals, and transportation,” mentioned Dominguez-Santos, human rights coordinator of the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory Fee. “All of that comes into play once we discuss healthcare — particularly for probably the most weak residents on Cape Cod.”
The awards celebration will likely be held nearly from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 14, and can embrace a roundtable dialogue, a number of awards ceremonies and remarks from Dominguez-Santos; Jeanne Morrison, a member of the Fee; U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-Mass.; state Rep. Kip Diggs, D-Barnstable, and state Rep. David Vieira, R-Falmouth.
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Attendees should register to obtain a hyperlink to programming. Cape Media Heart may even showcase the occasion on Channel 98.
The ceremony will coincide with “Human Rights Day,” mentioned Morrison, which is noticed yearly on Dec. 10 in remembrance of the United Nations Normal Meeting’s adoption of the Common Declaration of Human Rights in Paris in 1948.
“Human Rights Day” evokes folks worldwide to talk up and take motion to finish discrimination in all kinds, Morrison mentioned. It is a day to have fun the achievements of those that have fought for and guarded human rights. It is also a day, she mentioned, to mirror on the longer term and establish the work that also must be executed.
It is in that spirit, mentioned Morrison, that the fee selected to concentrate on well being care as a human proper for this 12 months’s human rights award celebration.
“People could not consider well being care as a human rights situation, however in at this time’s world, everybody deserves to have entry to good high quality and inexpensive well being care,” she mentioned.
Spherical desk dialogue on fairness, entry to well being care on Cape Cod
Whereas the annual occasion normally hosts one keynote speaker, Dominguez-Santos mentioned a roundtable dialogue will likely be held as an alternative.
“It appeared like an important alternative to permit completely different well being consultants, that had completely different factors of view, to construct off of each other and discuss how they serve the Cape Cod neighborhood,” mentioned Dominguez-Santos. “All of them are inspiring in what they do.”
The dialogue will characteristic three members together with Dr. Kumara Sidhartha, a doctor whose focus is preventive drugs and vitamin, who will discuss entry for Medicare and Medicaid sufferers; George “Leo” Blandford, director of Group Primarily based Care at Outer Cape Well being Providers, who will discuss social determinants that may influence inequities of well being care on the Cape; and Cecilia “Ceci” Phelan-Stiles, an interpreter, who will communicate on how language connects to fairness and entry to well being care.
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Dr. Brian O’Mally, an inner drugs doctor in Provincetown and creator, will reasonable the roundtable dialogue.
“All 4 audio system have nice tales to inform about issues which can be working rather well on Cape Cod,” mentioned Dominguez-Santos. “They may even establish challenges in delivering high quality well being care to everyone. They share distinctive views and we’re keen to listen to what they need to say.”
Awards recipients concerned from Alzheimer’s illness to psychological well being
Annually the Fee additionally presents human rights awards to members of the neighborhood. Matthew Levesque, a Barnstable city councilor, will obtain the Rosenthal Group Champion award; and Barbara Burgo, co-founder of the Cape Cod Cape Verdean Museum & Cultural Heart will obtain the Cornerstone award.
Former Human Rights Coordinator the late Susan Quinones may even be honored, and her household will obtain the Tim McCarthy Award. Quinones died in April after a battle with most cancers.
Unsung well being entry and fairness heroes and heroines may even be honored throughout the occasion.
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Eleven recipients embrace Terry Alves-Hunter, a psychological well being care advocate for racial, ethnic and linguistic minority communities; Blandford, a medical social employee and volunteer; Melanie Braverman and Molly Purdue of the Alzheimer’s Household Assist Heart of Cape Cod; Debra Dagwan, a former Barnstable City Councilor and civil rights and LGBTQ plus advocate; Joanne Geake, a Sandwich public well being nurse, who addresses neighborhood psychological well being wants and dependancy; Paul Hebert, co-founder of Champ Home (now Champ Properties), which supplies transitional housing for adults in want; Ron Hoffman, founding father of Compassionate Care ALS; Michael Mecenas, founder and director of Well being Ministry, Inc., a corporation that gives providers for migrants and low-income households; Ayanna Guardian, founding father of B Free Wellness in Hyannis; and Daniel Rodrigues, director of substance use dysfunction providers at Duffy Well being Heart.
“Our unsung heroes are doing their very own half throughout the Cape neighborhood to make sure folks have issues to maintain them wholesome, issues to assist them enhance their well being situation,” mentioned Morrison.
Dominguez-Santos agreed and mentioned the unsung heroes are positively affecting the numerous aspects of well being care.
“I really like that we are a broad image of what human rights work appears to be like like by way of well being care,” she mentioned. “From housing to wholesome meals to transportation — all of those elements come into play once we discuss well being. All of those unsung heroes are doing the work throughout all 15 cities on Cape.”
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For Morrison, the state of well being care impacts everyone — and we should all work collectively to make sure entry and fairness inside our native and total healthcare techniques.
“If you cannot or haven’t got entry to remedy for diseases, then your high quality of life will be very poor. Nobody ought to undergo like that. We must always all have what we want,” she mentioned. “It is a basic human proper.”
Contact Rachael Devaney at [email protected].
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