Challenging Barriers and Increasing Access...
we acknowledge that we will never be fully accessible to all people.
dearbody acknowledges the powerful political and systemic issues that prevent medical care from being accessible to so many. Whether it is due to a lack of adequate insurance coverage, financial barriers, language barriers, distrust in the medical system and/or providers, experiences of racism and/or feeling stigmatized by the medical system, and so many more… dearbody does not claim to exist outside of these issues, but was created to challenge some of them by creating its own structure and microsystem of community care.
ways in which dearbody is taking action:
[Note: these are non-exhaustive lists. It is impossible to understand or to cover the breadth of inequities that exist in our world today. We have created these lists to be as transparent as we can be, but recognize that we will always fall short of achieving a truly equitable world.]
ways we are challenging barriers and increasing access:
Now:
work outside of the clinic
Clinics in and of themselves create their own barriers. Working outside of the clinic and in agencies run by the communities of which they are serving means they hold the power structure. Right now Mallory is currently working with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Tribe at their health and wellness center located on the Grand Ronde reservation. She also works with the Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA), Central City Concern (CCC), and Red Lodge Transition Services. Until there are more acupuncturists of color to step into these roles, she “will enter these spaces with humility, respect, and by invitation only.”
discounts
We tried tirelessly to come up with a way to do a sliding fee scale and still offer the limited number of insurance plans we accept, but it was very complicated. Instead, we offer a time-of-service discount of $105 which is a lower rate than we see at other clinics. We offer an additional discount for veterans in-between their VA authorizaitons as well as for tribal members who are not enrolled with CTGR. For those who are unable to pay at all, we are accepting one MEDICAID plan (Careoregon). We offer veterans & tribal members 15% off all of our products.
imagery & representation
The imagery on the website is meant to challenge the imagery in this industry that overwhelmingly portrays white skin. We had never (knowingly) seen an image of an Indigenous person receiving acupuncture until we had our first photoshoot in 2020.
The majority of imagery and art hung throughout the clinic are by Indigenous artists. Some of the pieces are for sale and all proceeds will directly support them.
offering services in Spanish
Although Mallory does not allege to be fluent in Spanish, she has many years experience living and working in Spanish speaking countries. She is currently working with Spanish speaking clients and we have translated forms upon request.
working with people of color and supporting businesses run by people of color
We make it a priority to work with people of color (when accessible) for everything from marketing & branding to photography to catering. We recognize as a business providing holistic services that our responsibility to the health of these communities must also come from our pockets.
who we are listening to/learning from
More and more practitioners in the field and people outside of it are uprooting the issues that exist within the profession of East Asian medicine and exposing the problematic history of how it became professionalized in the US. dearbody is committed to learning from these individuals and doing our own work to honor the traditional roots of EAM.
Here are a few people we’ve been following:
Here is our favorite course we recently took:
Facial Gua Sha as a Cultural Practice by Dr. Paige Yang and Ivy Lee.
ways we are limited in challenging barriers and increasing access
Run by a non-Native, non-POC woman
I acknowledge that cultural “competence” trainings will never give me a competent understanding of someone’s culture or background. I acknowledge that I have my own privilege and bias that continue to affect my life and influence how I see others.
Because we don’t take the gamut of insurances, we acknowledge that there are many people who will not access our services.
This was a difficult decision for us, but because we have so many great colleagues who do take these insurances, we decided to place our focus on the insurances we do accept, as well as on our group acupuncture services, discounts, & medicaid access.
Because dearbody is located on the second floor of an old building, it does not have elevator access or ADA compliance.
dearbody will provide a limited number of house calls because of this, but still acknowledge the barrier this creates for people with disabilities.
dearbody has been heavily influenced and inspired by Indigenous territories, people, agencies and land. dearbody acknowledges the disproportion of other POC & LGBTQIA+ representation in our images and in our advocacy work. This is not done deliberately — we acknowledge the shared and unshared barriers that exist between these communities. Understanding Indigenous health and its systems has consumed much of our time and resources both because it is a passion of ours and also because it is a large gap we see working in this field. We love working with patients from the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, but we also recognize our limitations in serving this community. We are so fortunate to live in an area where we can refer to providers who specialize in this care.
Here are a few referrals for some amazing providers and clinics who specialize in queer, trans, non-binary & BIPOC health:
Hey Doc clinic: queer, trans, & BIPOC-centered clinic
Black Pearl Wellness: culturally responsive wellness center that focuses on making Acupuncture/East Asian Medicine, Chiropractic, and Naturopathic Medicine more accessible to Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and Pacific Islander, LGBTQIA, and historically excluded communities
Alexis Lively Acupuncture (she/they) is a dear friend & colleague who loves working with people who haven’t felt heard in the healthcare system, including people going through gender affirming surgeries
Al Reed (they/them) is a colleague who specializes in queer, non-binary & trans health
So, so many more