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Caregivers in a Care-less Society: A Panel on Care Work and Social Justice
January 31 at 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm CST
What difference would it make if the many caregivers of our world—doulas, chaplains, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, pastors, nurses, doctors—accompanying those with whom they care, worked together to transform our careless social structures?
What if the remedy to widespread caregiver burn-out was to be found in building infrastructures of care rather than in promoting marketized practices of self-care?
The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us of our dependence on one another for life and, perhaps especially, our collective need for care. It made visible the radical inequalities produced by a social and economic system that prioritizes profit over people. As many have noted, those who were most at risk of infection and death from the virus—elderly, poor, disabled, incarcerated, migrants, unhoused people—received little support from existing public infrastructure or were neglected and abandoned altogether.
And yet, we live in a society of many caregivers. We have caring professionals (nurses, doctors, midwives, doulas, pastors, chaplains, therapists, social workers, etc.) and unpaid caregivers (friends, parents, communities of faith, etc.). How do our careless systems and structures affect our caregivers and those for whom they provide care? How might reflecting on experiences in caregiving help us reimagine a more caring social life? What is the role of caregivers in the struggle for a more just world?
To discuss these questions further, we are delighted to welcome four panelists who are experts in medical care work and social justice:
Rev. Dr. Jessica Chapman Lape
Rev. Dr. Jessica Chapman Lape is United’s assistant professor and program director for interreligious chaplaincy who received her PhD in Practical Theology from California’s Claremont School of Theology. Jessica’s research inhabits the intersection of spiritual care, healthcare, and reproductive justice. Her dissertation, missTreated: A Womanist Clinical Pastoral Theology on the Mistreatment of African American Women in U.S. Healthcare, explores Black women’s perception of cultural violence in U.S. healthcare systems and the subsequent role of spiritual care in interrupting such violence. Jessica’s current research is working to expand paradigms of clinical spiritual care to include contextualized spiritual care practices such as Black indigenous birthwork.
Dr. Michael Westerhaus
Dr. Westerhaus, who graduated from Harvard Medical School in 2006, practices at HealthPartners’ Center for International Health. “As a medical anthropologist,” Dr. Westerhaus writes, “I am very interested in understanding the impact of socioeconomics and culture on health and illness. In my role as a member of the global health faculty at the University of Minnesota, I work both here in Minnesota and in northern Uganda to improve community-based primary care delivery, teach about the social determinants of health, and build partnerships based upon respect and equality that advance health for all.” He is also on the leadership committee of EqualHealth.
Dr. Aarti Bhatt
Aarti Bhatt is an assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, where she completed a chief residency year in Global Health. She is also an associate program director for the Med-Peds residency program and works as a primary care physician at the Community University Health Care Center (CUHCC). She is an active member of the Social Medicine Consortium and does community organizing through the Equal Health Campaign Against Racism (which also has a Minnesota chapter). Dr. Bhatt is a founding board member for Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity. She has a particular interest in using narrative health and community centered approaches to dismantle the social forces of systemic racism that drive health inequity.
Rev. Laura Cannata
Rev. Laura Cannata (a 2013 United alum) is a Disability Justice Minister at Robbinsdale Parkway UCC. She is also on the Disability Ministries’ Board of Directors for the National UCC. She lives with chronic illnesses and mental health issues but is disabled by attitudes and societal structures. She speaks the truth to power and writes prophetic poems. She quotes the Bible almost as much as she quotes The Lord of the Rings and loves both people and animals.
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