Chelsea writes about the collaboration between RARE Youth Revolution and Dr Hen Says to create an informative graphic on medical gaslighting.
Every person impacted by rare disease has a different journey and each of their stories is valid. When these stories are not listened to, the physical and mental consequences can be serious. Medical gaslighting causes excessive testing, frequent doctor visits and misdiagnoses. Often, it happens during the transition from paediatric to adult care, when we are “too young to know enough” or “too inexperienced due to our age”. In reality, we know more than healthcare professionals give us credit for. Our upcoming collaboration with Dr Hen Says will try to help to address this persistent problem.
Working in rare disease, you interact with people and organisations you would never have met otherwise. Since starting at RARE Youth Revolution, I’ve had the chance to meet people with fascinating stories and organisations with inspiring goals and initiatives. These offer exciting opportunities.
In a collaborative project, both parties have the same goal and similar interests. Through working together and sharing skillsets, they achieve something bigger than they could by themselves. This is why we’ve decided to join with Dr Hen Says on a social media project.
Social media is such a powerful platform for people and organisations who are advocating for the issues that matter to them. And infographics are a terrific tool to get information across about these topics—punchy educational content can grab a reader’s attention mid scroll.
Dr Hen Says’ animated world is filled with characters called ‘Hens’, and each of them have a different health challenge. The cartoons raise awareness and address misconceptions about conditions, including endometriosis, ADHD and mental health.
These are serious issues, but the Hens make learning less intimidating and easier to start health conversations. The visual presentation—with minimal words—simplifies health concerns too.
With RARE Youth Revolution’s lived experience in rare disease and Dr Hen Says’ expertise in creating attractive and educational animations, we spotted a fantastic opportunity to work together to address difficult—but vital—health issues. We are focusing on medical gaslighting because, unfortunately, many in the rare disease youth community have experienced this in some form.
Our collaboration will start with medical gaslighting: when a healthcare professional dismisses or downplays one’s symptoms, or says these are because of something else, such as a psychological condition. The post will also address ways to recognise and avoid medical gaslighting.
We hope to produce content that is not only educational, but also relatable for those of us who have experienced this. It is thrilling to collaborate with Dr Hen Says on a topic so important to the rare disease youth community. We can’t wait to see where this collaboration goes and to see the final result!
Socials
Instagram: Dr Hen Says
LinkedIn: Halza
Facebook: Dr Hen Says
YouTube: Dr Hen Says