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Civic Engagement for the Underserved—A Clinician Imperative

The Healthy People 2020 initiative under the Department of Health and Human Services reported an association between voter participation and better self-reported health.1 A supporting study concluded that though the mechanisms might be unknown, the fact is that the level of civic participation in a country is tightly tied to the overall health status of a country.2 National provider groups recognize the importance of civic engagement to their clinical practice and those they serve as well. The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) recently began working together with VotER (www.Vot-ER.org) a national nonprofit that was founded by an emergency medicine physician, Alister Martin, who recognized both the need to encourage civic engagement and voter registration, and the particular role that providers can play in empowering patients to have a voice. While many organizations have been encouraging and supporting their staff, patients, and communities to vote for years (and many are required by law to offer voter registration in some circumstances), for some, the idea of registering voters in the current politically charged environment is worrisome.