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As someone who works with a diverse population of elderly patients, Jousette Anaya sees a major problem in the healthcare space: an unwillingness on the part of service providers to expand their perspectives. When patients have different mindsets and worldviews, she says, too often, a lack of cultural sensitivity hinders the level of care they receive. “You have to understand that not everyone thinks like you and the way you frame the world,” she says. Jousette has worked on this problem for years by teaching wellness workshops, and after joining GenUnity, she also developed new ways of talking about health equity.

Jousette has a background in both psychology and ministry, work she came to out of a desire to help others. “I always think, how can I make someone’s life a little better?” she says. Since 2019, though, she’s been the Wellness Pathways Program Supervisor at Greater Lynn Senior Services. In this role, she runs workshops that help seniors learn to manage chronic conditions. This involves both concrete health and wellness advice, but also lessons about self-advocacy and communication in a health care setting. ““By the end of the workshop,” she says, “I see the change in people’s mindsets. I see the change in the way people want to take care of themselves. And I also see them build relationships and connect. They go from being in isolation to connection.” 

Last year, Jousette’s boss asked her, “What do you know about health equity?” and her engagement with GenUnity began. She began to explore the topic, with a desire to learn more about it, and found GenUnity’s Health Equity Program. In the program, Jousette learned more about health equity issues, and she then took that knowledge back to her work. “I have more information when I deliver that section of the workshop,” she says. “Every time I deliver a workshop, when I come to that part, I got that from [GenUnity].” Jousette also particularly resonated with one of our dialogue norms, “Take space and make space.” She felt that it allowed for a more generous, authentic environment in program: “Even if someone wasn’t in agreement with you, they appreciated what you brought to the table.”

As Jousette moves forward, she’ll continue to share what she learned in program with the folks she works with in Lynn. “People need to know their voices can be heard,” she says. Her dedication to sharing information, promoting connection and relationship, and encouraging better advocacy and wellness practices shine through in her work, and in any conversation with her. Jousette knows one thing for certain, in work and in life: “If you want to see a change, you have to be the change.”

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