Accessibility in Clinical Herbal Practice
If you're here, you might have attended the AHG Meetup on the topic of Accessibility in Clinical Herbal Practice - thanks!
Or, you might be interested in accessible herbalism, and the new course we're creating to help you!
Below you'll find some of the resources that i shared in the presentation. These can be a starting point for you until the new course - with tons more information - is available!
The Herbal Community Care Toolkit
This is a course which focuses on safe, accessible resources for common issues. This course is available by donation if you choose or free with the code mutualaid.
Sliding Scale and Low-Cost work
The first part of accessibility is helping people afford a consultation. Sliding scales are popular but challenging to implement - Alexis has written some really excellent resources for implementing sliding scale work:
https://www.wortsandcunning.com/blog/sliding-scale
"Cheap-best"
This is a concept we work with a lot - it's versions of popular and really helpful formulas/remedies that are the least expensive but still potent and effective. You can develop "cheap-best" versions of all of your herbal strategies. Here are some of ours:
Cheap-best Fire Cider:
Garlic, Onion, Apple Cider Vinegar, Horseradish or Ginger if they have it affordably at the grocery store.
Cheap-best Gut Heal Tea:
Chamomile, Peppermint, and Ginger. If teabags are all that you have access to, that's ok - these three are widely available and usually less expensive. For more accessibility, choose just the one that is most relevant for the person.
Nutritional Resources
If you haven't already, start putting together a page on your website or a clickable PDF you can email to clients (or a printable document, if that's more appropriate for your area) that has information about affordable resources for better quality food in your area. Include public and private food banks, local farmer's markets and CSAs that take EBT, any local benefits (for example, in Boston, farmer's markets double your EBT dollars), etc.
Also look for reclamation grocery stores - they're becoming more common! Here is a chain of such stores in the Boston area:
https://www.dailytable.org/about
Mutual Aid Networks
There are mutual aid networks across the country and they often can help with resourcing! Find them here:
Food not Bombs is also a great hub for mutual aid and resourcing:
Community Resources
Also start to build a list of local resources for everything you can think of - heating assistance, internet access assistance, social services, etc. Here is a list of some of these resources that we give our students as a starting point:
Other forms of Accessibility
Resourcing is not the only consideration for accessibility. It's important to consider whether you are able to provide services for folks who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, for the Deaf community and the Blind community, and for people with other disabilities.
One way to start with this kind of accessibility is making sure that your website and online resources are easily readable with sufficient contrast for people with low visibility and vision impairment. You can use an accessibility checker to ensure this, such as:
https://www.accessibilitychecker.org/
and https://www.accessibilitychecker.org/color-contrast-checker/
Make sure that your website works with screenreaders, and streamline your forms and disclaimers as much as possible to make them easier to navigate for folks who are not comfortable with technology, or who are trying to fill your forms out on their phone, or on a public computer.
Offering consultations on Zoom can also increase accessibility for people who can't afford to get child care, who are disabled, or who are immune-compromised and are not able to meet in person easily.
You don't have to be able to provide everything for everyone all at once, but if you're aware of the needs of your community, you can always be growing accessibility to your work for as many people as possible!
If you are looking for support in your clinical practice, check out our Clinical Herbalist program, and Clinical Mentorship program.
Don't forget that AHG members receive a 20% discount - you'll find the code in the Member Benefit section on the AHG website!
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