#10 - Advocacy in Healthcare: Interview with Emma Lamoreaux

Today on Matters of the Mind, I’m continuing conversations with guests attending the Active Minds Mental Health Conference, the nation’s leading conference focused on young adults and mental health. I sit down with Emma Lamoreaux, an Active Minds Student Advisory Committee Member. Emma shares her journey with Active Minds and discussed the topic of her conference presentation on equitable insurance access.

To learn more about Active Minds, visit their website www.activeminds.org

Transcript

Pippa: Hello everyone, my name is Pippa Greenberg, and you are listening to my podcast, Matters of the Mind. Today, I'm in Washington, D. C. attending the Active Minds Mental Health Conference, the nation's leading mental health conference for young adults. I'm currently sitting with Emma, a student advisory committee member. 

Welcome to Matters of the Mind! . 

So can you tell us about your work and what brings you to the active Minds conference? 

Emma: Yeah, of course. I started with Active Minds, I went to Temple University. I just graduated in May. I actually found our chapter my sophomore year.

I think it was a coloring event and I just saw about it on Instagram and it was COVID. So I was like, you know what, I'll go over Zoom. And then the next thing I knew I was on the executive board as a graphic designer and I was being interviewed by Temple News. And I was like, Oh my God, I'm not, I'm not really qualified to be doing this.

But yeah, I ended up staying with the organization for the three years that I was at Temple, and I moved up and I became co president of my chapter and then president my senior year. And then during my junior year, I found out about the Student Advisory Committee through Active Minds National, applied, got in.

So my junior year, I was the Northwest Regional Representative, so I was in charge of pretty much everything from Pennsylvania up to Maine, I was in charge of coordinating and communicating with our chapters to make sure that they were in the know and that I could help them at any time. And then this year I became Secretary on the exec board for the SAC. So I'm serving out my last term very sadly. But part of that is that we get to come to conference, which is a really great thing because I couldn't really afford to go back when I was just starting out with Active Minds. But now I've been happy to come twice and I'm hoping I can come again in the future.

Pippa: That's amazing. That's so nice. So what are you most interested in learning about at this conference? 

Emma: I'm presenting this year on mental health insurance, so I'm hoping to learn more. There's a lot of other presentations going on that cover health insurance in some way. And I'm about to go into a master's program in the fall for health policy and management.

So I feel like it's good foundational knowledge to know. And also seeing as there's different vendors and other people of various levels of education here talking on those kind of topics, it does kind of help me learn more because I feel like as someone who was a healthcare major and is going into a healthcare graduate program, It's almost like I get lost in like a bias bubble of things that I know. And I forget that you can always learn more, especially about healthcare. So I'm definitely excited to learn about that. 

I attended some great sessions so far and I was excited to meet my SAC members in person. That was really great because we're virtual the entire year. And also I get to learn about myself. Which is really nice. I feel like I learned a lot about myself last conference and I've only been here for 24 hours and I could say that I've learned a little bit about myself in that 24 hours already. It's just a very holistic experience. I always have a smile on my face and I'm always happy to know what's going on and attending sessions and whatnot while I'm here.

Pippa: That's amazing. That's really wonderful. So what did you say that you were speaking about? 

Emma: Our presentation is called Priceless Wellness, so it's talking about equitable and equitable mental health, access for just general insurance, so whether that's finding it through your school, your workplace, outside of both of those things, we're trying to make sure that people understand what health insurance is because it's a lot of people don't know until they have to start buying it, how to access it, how to make sure you have no barriers or how to address the barriers keeping you from getting it and then how to utilize it the best way possible.

Pippa: That's really useful. That would be really useful for a lot of people. And why is this topic important or significant to you? 

Emma: So as I said, I'm going into a master's in health policy. One of my biggest things, I mean, coming into college, I wanted to be a part of the healthcare workforce before I realized that stabbing people with needles and vomit were not my thing.

So, now I'm trying to do everything I can in my power to make sure that the healthcare system, when I eventually enter it as a working professional, is fixed. I have seen through working corporate internships, working at hospitals, interning, whatever it may be, that the healthcare system is just rising costs and insufficient care.

So, it's a complete conundrum of healthcare is supposed to help people, but all it's doing, I feel like, a lot of the times, is it's hurting people. People can't get it. They can't afford it. They're not getting adequate care. So I think more people need to know about what's happening with our healthcare system, because just like mental health stigma, this is something that we should be fighting for.

The same thing applies for healthcare. We need to be fighting for people to get the services that they need, because if you're not addressing both your mental and physical health, you're not doing yourself a service. You can't just focus on one without the other. So I'm hoping we can help people find access to things without having to pay hundreds, thousands of dollars just to get it.

Pippa: Mm hmm. What use is health care if no one can afford it? 

Emma: Exactly. Exactly. And it's, it's frustrating to see other countries that have better health care models and it's like, oh, well, I wish we could adopt that. But realistically, like. government wise and policy wise, it would be such a stressor to do so. So you kind of just have to make the most of what we currently have and know how to navigate it and use it to your advantage as both a patient or a healthcare professional.

Pippa: That's really cool. So what role do you believe community support plays in mental health recovery and well being? 

Emma: I think that over the last maybe decade, I think community support is definitely playing a bigger role in mental health services. I mean, I went to Philly. I lived there for four years while I was in school.

And from when I started my freshman year in 2020 to when I graduated in 2024, I saw so much more mental health care support just even on my own campus. Like when I first arrived on the campus, it was like, Oh, well, we have, you know, counseling if you need it, and there's therapists and whatever. And then by my fourth year, it was like, well, we have therapy and we have the resource center and we have all of these things that you can use to your advantage while you're here. Like you're paying tuition, you might as well use it. And then even in the Philly, like North Philly area, everything was popping up suddenly. It was like, well, we have resources for LGBTQ. We have resources for our seniors. And it was just, it was such a good feeling. Like I I wasn't a direct cause of any of that, but it was just good to know that it was there in a way.

Also like community support. I feel like if you don't have the community around to protect you and to resonate and support you, it's really hard to do things on your own. And I mean, even when it comes to mental health, you can only do so much for yourself before you're going to need to step aside and ask for help, whether that's from your therapist, your friend, your family, whatever it may be.

I'm hoping over the incoming years that more and more community services start popping up as they're already doing so, but it is a very, very great thing to see as someone who wants those services out there for people and It just makes me so happy. 

Pippa: It must be so rewarding to see that there are so many more sources for people.

Emma: And like I said, like I wasn't the cause of it or anything, but it's just nice to know that it's there and that if I ever did need it, you know, I can walk down the street and I can go to this place or I can email this person and get connected because I feel like a few years ago that wasn't the case.

Pippa: That's awesome. 

Emma: Yep. 

Pippa: So is there any advice that you would like to share for those struggling with mental health challenges or for anyone hoping to become a mental health advocate? 

Emma: Of course, I was actually sitting in a session this morning and they had us do a mental health roadmap. So they had us draw a line on a piece of paper and then mark our mental health journey. So, you know, mine started with like my birth, I guess. And then it was like, okay, I experienced this at this age. And then, you know, when I was this age, my first friend died by suicide. And then at this age, I finally got involved with mental health work. I think sitting there and looking at that piece of paper, I was like, wow, that's a like, I didn't realize how accumulating all of this has been, but I think a lot of people think that for something like mental health work, you have to know the right people to get in a line of work like this, which is just not true.

When I joined Active Minds, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. And then the next thing I knew, I was like working for the national team and I was on meetings every week for it. But I think the most important thing is that you have to realize that telling your story is one of the best things that you can do for others.

Not only is it a service for yourself to help cope. and accept some of the things that you've been through and some of the hardships or even get through a hardship, but it helps others to know that they're not alone. I think that's a big saying in mental health, you know, you're not alone, you're not doing this by yourself, but people don't really believe that when they are in a time of need.

 So I hope sharing my story and my experience with mental health, or even my interest when it comes to mental health advocacy inspires someone else to do the same. And I've seen that in my own chapter back when I was president, we recruited new people in to work on our executive board and, at first, everyone was so shy. They didn't really know what they were doing. And then they got comfortable and it was like, please, like, we want to hear why you're here, what you're doing this for. And I think even in our sessions today, we heard like, what is your intention? Which I think is really important. I mean, technically speaking, my time with Active Minds is coming to an end, very sadly, but I hope that I can continue to share my story in whatever space and capacity I'm allowed to and I hope I can inspire younger people to do the same thing that I wanted to do when I was younger. So, yeah, 

Pippa: That's amazing. Thank you so much. And thank you for all the important work you're doing. And it's just, it's really amazing. Um, this is my first Active Minds conference, but I can tell that from what I've seen here and what I've learned so far, just in these 24 hours, that the people here are doing great work.

So is there anything else that you would like to share or add? 

Emma: I don't think so. Other than perhaps donate to Active Minds if you have the time, even if it's not financial, if you have the resources to help out, get involved, and if you're an up and coming student, start an Active Minds chapter if there's not one in your high school, your college, your workplace, people don't even know that it's outside of colleges, you can start one whenever, and it's very easy to get started. And being a founding member is a huge deal around here. So, get out there, help however you can, do what you can in the spaces that you have.