Only recently, a second-year medical student was lauded for creating a handbook of the appearance of clinical signs of medical disorders on black and brown skin. There are numerous medical literatures on the internet, but considering that these are typically on fair-skinned people, manifestations specific to Black people are largely unaddressed.
ourHealth is a social community and streaming platform created by 30-year-old medical professional Eric Chiyembezeka to address the growing concern of health inequality in the United States. Eric had been in charge of health centers for underserved communities, and his exposure to their conditions only served to support his observation that health information resources for Black people are severely lacking.
It is undeniable that while healthcare has been improving in many aspects, non-white minorities continue to draw the short straw and receive suboptimal care. Thus, ourHealth was created and is directed towards making resources pertaining to Black health available and easily accessible to people everywhere.
It is a medical fact that the Black Community is disproportionately afflicted by various chronic conditions, and disparities continue to grow as a result of unaddressed social determinants of health. ourHealth operates with the purpose of bringing the Black Community together to create a unified pool of resources on a variety of subjects, including medical health care, mental health, and lifestyle. This mobile app strives to make life better for many Black people by aggregating all resources and information that are accurate and culturally appropriate in a single, accessible place.
It is the first-ever standalone, Black health community and streaming platform created and owned by Black people. Aiming to create an all-Black team of creators and influencers, ourHealth has begun creating partnerships. Today, there are numerous Black health influences scattered across many social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. These influencers are a massive contributor to the diversity of internet pop culture, and they are a valuable source of reliable Black health information.
Still, this kind of setup means that resources from these influencers are scattered across networks as well. ourHealth hopes to bring these all together in a single site, and its dedication to increasing access to reliable information will drastically improve many of the Black population’s lives as it continues to grow and gain popularity.
ourHealth aggregates health information that people need the most. Black health is not widely covered or addressed on most platforms, and the health outcomes of Black people are the poorest of any group in the country. These concerns will be addressed by the Community by creating content that is informative, reliable, and easily digestible. Such content will also be culturally appropriate, as they will be created specifically for members of the Black population.
The streaming component of the ourHealth Community will produce fresh content weekly. In actively partnering with video content creators and Black health influencers, it also brings a significant advantage in monetization. Black creators and influencers on social media typically find a disadvantage in monetizing their reach due to the unconducive algorithms. ourHealth TV addresses this by operating on a subscription model that will allow them to pay royalties for each unique view on their videos at an extremely competitive rate.
With the slogan “This is all about our health…period,” all of the ourHealth team’s efforts are geared toward providing a service that will bring a wealth of health and wellness benefits to Black people in the United States.
Health should not be a privilege, but a fundamental human right to be enjoyed by all. As such, all people should have access to reliable sources of healthcare information to improve their quality of life. Find out more about ourHealth and how they improve Black lives by visiting their website.
