Doctor’s Orders: How Voting Improves Your Health
Author(s): Toyin Ajayi, M.D., Co-founder and CEO, Cityblock Health; Sonika Mathur, SVP, Head of Social Care and Determinants of Health, Cityblock Health
Why would a healthcare company urge you to vote? If all politics is local, then all health is personal, and nothing has more of an impact on the quality and access to care than speaking your voice at the ballot box.
The American Medical Association recently adopted a resolution identifying voting as a social determinant of health. Co-sponsored by the National Medical Association, the resolution also recognizes that gerrymandering, the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries, limits access to care and leads to worse health outcomes. The industry has finally recognized what we’ve inherently known to be true: Silencing your voice can harm your health.
Election day is coming up on Tuesday, November 8th and early voting has begun in many states.The data tells us that communities that vote in higher numbers, that are politically engaged, have better outcomes than those with lower voter turnout. One study linked higher voter turnout with a significantly reduced risk of cancer death and another found voting was associated with improved mental health.
The reason is self-evident: Elected officials — who can influence everything from healthcare policy and funding to local zoning, environmental regulations, transportation, housing, and childcare, all of which affect physical and mental health — listen to the voters. No matter what your political views are or which candidates you choose, the act of voting puts your influence into the conversation. In order for elected officials to listen, you have to get their ear by voting.
Since our founding, Cityblock has been committed to providing resources that enable people easier access to voting — from giving our employees time off to vote to providing education about voter registration — and even helping people whose right to vote has been restored. Cityblock recently partnered with Vot-ER, a nonprofit organization that works with 25,000 doctors and other health professionals including Cityblock providers, to spread education and awareness of the issue. In North Carolina, where a court decision restored voting rights to 56,000 people who are felons on parole, probation or supervised release, Cityblock partnered with the Fayetteville Cumberland Reentry Council to host a voter registration drive. Those renewed North Carolina voters are disproportionately Black. We know that systematically marginalized communities continue to be deprived of access to basic services and rights — from food security to education to healthcare to voting. What we’re doing in North Carolina reflects our determination to break that cycle.
For many Cityblock members, their care team is a trusted source of information and counsel. We support our providers honoring that trust by talking to members about what they can do to contribute to better health outcomes by voting. And we encourage our members to take action. The idea of one-person-one-vote has been a principle of participatory democracy for a long time. Now, we recognize what that ideal means for your health. Vote for your community, vote for your family, vote for your health. Make your voice heard.
