Embedded Files
Introduction
Introduction
Healthcare systems are often the first place disabled people experience violence - from forced treatments to medical gaslighting to outright denial of care. During this administration's attacks on healthcare access, understanding the medical industrial complex becomes essential for survival. This module explores alternatives to medical control, examines community-based healing practices, and positions healthcare as a site of resistance rather than just service provision.
Learning Intentions: Analyze healthcare attacks on disabled people, explore community-based healing, and examine medical racism and ableism.
Content
Content
Core Content (Essential Reading/Viewing)
Core Content (Essential Reading/Viewing)
Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice - Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Structural ableism in public health and healthcare: a definition and conceptual framework - Dielle J. Lundberg & Jessica A. Chen -
Peer support, made pride and disability justice - Luke Romano - Counseling Today/American Counseling Association
Disability Identity, Chronic Illness and Community: Owning Your Sotry with Sarah Napoli - DEPTH Work: A holistic Mental Health Podcast
"Disability Community Briefing: Defending Section 504 & Civil Rights" - Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
"10 Principles of Disability Justice" - Sins Invalid
Supplementary Content
Supplementary Content
Medica Industrial Complex:
'Medical Apartheid' Tracks History of Abuse' - Harriet Washington - NPR
Forced Medication in Psychiatry: Patients' Rights and the Law Not Respected by Appeals Board in Denmark - Peter C Gøtzsche et al.- Clinical Neuropsychiatry
Accessible Medical Education & TIC: Increasing Equitable Care for Disabled Patients - Christina Jean Su & Peppar EP Cyr - Harvard Public Health Review
Community Care Models:
Community Care Therapy Model vs Traditional Therapy Model - Renae Johnson - Open Space Therapy Collective
Indigenous Native American Healing Traditions - Mary Koithan & Cynthia Farrell - The Journal for Nurse Practitioners
Crisis Alternatives:
Alternatives to calling the police in a crisis - Mental Health America
Project LETS: Building Peer-Led Mental Health Alternatives on Campus - Miranda Spencer - Mad in America
What is Healing Justice? - National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network
Reflection & Engagement Options
Reflection & Engagement Options
Journal Prompts
Journal Prompts
What has your relationship with the medical system been like? When have you felt seen and supported? When have you felt dismissed or harmed?
How do you define health and healing for yourself? How does this differ from medical definitions?
What role does community play in your healing and well-being?
How might your healing be connected to collective liberation?
Discussion Questions for Learning Communities
How do medical racism, medical misogyny, and medical ableism intersect to harm multiply-marginalized people?
What's the difference between being "anti-medicine" and being critical of the medical-industrial complex?
How can we support people who choose medical interventions while also helping those who choose alternative approaches?
What would community-controlled healthcare look like?
Creative & Artistic Engagement
Visual Arts:
Create artwork envisioning community-controlled healing spaces
Design infographics about healthcare justice and disability rights
Make art processing medical trauma and healing
Performance & Movement:
Create performances about medical violence and resistance
Develop healing-centered movement or dance practices
Write and perform pieces about community care vs. medical control
Music & Sound:
Create healing playlists for medical appointments or trauma recovery
Write songs about healthcare justice and community care
Design audio-guided meditations for disabled communities
Digital & Tech:
Build accessible resources for healthcare advocacy
Create apps or tools for community-controlled health support
Design digital mutual aid networks for health and healing
Community Art:
Organize community healing circles or support groups
Create resource maps for community-controlled healthcare
Start community gardens or healing spaces
Writing & Documentation:
Write guides for healthcare advocacy and self-advocacy
Document community healing practices in your area
Interview people about alternatives to medical model approaches
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