Within the bustling healthcare panorama of Atlanta, the place disparities usually outline entry to medical care, Terrence Hight Jr. has emerged as a transformative pressure. Because the founder and CEO of Hight Well being, he’s not simply speaking about change – he’s actively reshaping how underserved populations work together with the healthcare system. With over 12,000 lives impacted in Georgia alone, his strategy to healthcare accessibility is proving that grassroots initiatives can create lasting systemic change.
[Editor’s note: This is a truncated transcription of a longer video interview. Please see the video for the extended version. Some errors may occur.]
Are you able to clarify extra about your background, Hight Well being, and what are a few of the initiatives that Hight Well being is engaged on proper now?
Completely, cool. My background begins within the hospital. So, I began on Floor Zero within the emergency room and outpatient and affected person registration, so I used to be the man that might are available and get your insurance coverage card and all that. However then I imply, finally, led me to a place in referral coordination the place I used to be capable of ship folks from major care docs from common wellness visits to specialists. And in that, I noticed a bunch of points, a bunch of gaps, and realized that individuals are not getting linked to healthcare.
So quick ahead from then till now, what we now have with Hight Well being is principally the third model of an issue we’re making an attempt to unravel, which is how will we get folks linked to care, particularly, probably the most susceptible populations, which we coined the time period, or the society has it, underserved inhabitants with oftentimes minority folks. That’s our general purpose, discovering people who find themselves not even coming to the physician, going to the physician, going to the hospital in any respect, aside from once they go to the emergency room for some sort of sickness.
And the way will we get them after which get them right into a preventive care mannequin the place they had been to forestall these items from taking place and get linked to assets? About what Hight Well being does is we do this very successfully by way of in-person occasions, by way of digital well being occasions, and thru well being and wellness packages that we provide. We deliver them into the neighborhood which might be utterly freed from cost. And once more, we construct entry, schooling, and consciousness—the three issues we do.
Are you able to clarify extra about what the Atlanta Hypertension Initiative is? And what are a few of the targets of the initiative, and what would you just like the neighborhood to grasp about it?
Yeah, completely. In order that was really a grant, mini grant that we run by way of Archie. We ran that again final 12 months. So, a number of effort put in for an important trigger. And thru that mini grant, we proposed a program with a 90-day blood stress self-management program that entails weekly check-ins with a coach. You get a free blood stress monitor. You get issues like scales, and also you get hypertension and hypertension info and assets.
And the general purpose is that will help you lower your hypertension readings. But additionally, for those who can drop extra pounds, that’s nice. In case you can change your life-style and put in numerous life-style habits that may modify your life-style, that’s nice. In order that’s what the general purpose of that program is. We run it in Fulton County.
What are a few of the boundaries to entry that you just discover when African People are searching for therapy for hypertension and/or coronary heart illness?
Yeah, you may make an entire listing of them. Tthe prime three, I’d say, primary is price. Lots of people don’t go to the physician due to the price and realizing that you just’re going to finish up with a invoice afterward. So that forestalls folks from bridging that entry hole, as we name it. The second can be transportation. One, do you could have sufficient transportation? Quantity two, is there even a supplier, a healthcare supplier, that will help you handle your blood stress in your space?
Are you able to get the transportation there? After which the final I’d say can be well being literacy. So, the folks understanding that hypertension, hypertension, is a silent killer. You could have no signs, and you might really feel completely positive, however your physique isn’t going to reply till often it’s too late or one thing main has to occur. So, by understanding these three components, that’s what’s helped us make this system more practical for the neighborhood.
What are some methods sufferers can advocate for themselves to make sure they obtain care that’s applicable but additionally culturally related?
Proper. No, that’s an important query. Yeah, I feel one is simply having a dialog. Don’t be afraid to have a dialog together with your doctor. Physicians out right here doing nice jobs, making an attempt to assist folks, enhance their well being and making an attempt to forestall you from being sick. So, I feel simply having a dialog together with your doctor and seeing, are there pure methods or life-style modifications that I can put in place?
Ought to I be exercising extra and being on the DASH food plan to assist me decrease my hypertension? Require remedy. Additionally, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion. If in case you have that possibility, strive a special sort of doctor. So, I feel by doing all of your analysis and actually stepping into ready and letting your doctor know that, hey, I’m right here to actually enhance my well being and I care about my well being. I feel the doctor will probably be keen that will help you enhance your well being and offer you totally different choices.
What’s the DASH food plan?
So, the DASH food plan, and forgive me, I can’t bear in mind the acronym, but it surely’s for decreasing hypertension. So, it helps you have a look at your salt consumption. How do you are taking salt out? As a result of I feel simply culturally, once more, we come from this background of slavery, proper? It’s important to have a look at the affect that they’d on a few of the traditions and a few of the norms of the meals that we eat as we speak as a result of it was solely issues that slaves solely had entry to. So now you quick ahead to the place we’re as we speak, and people issues are embedded in our cultures.
We might eat one thing that has a number of sodium in it. We don’t notice that we’re messing up our hypertension degree. So simply one thing like that goes a little bit bit deeper. And we simply have to actually have a look at it.
What are a few of the particular issues or challenges that African People face in terms of blood stress remedy?
I feel it’s a mixture of issues. That’s one of many greatest conversations we now have. We meet folks on a regular basis and say, I do know I’ve hypertension, however I’m not taking my medication. And now I’m cringing inside, please, simply go away you that one step of taking your medication or having a dialog. And if you ask extra why you’re not taking it, properly, it makes me use the toilet extra, proper? Generally you be on a food plan, what’s known as a diuretic, you’re utilizing the toilet much more, much more water being such a system.
So these sorts of issues. Different folks say, oh, I simply forgot about it and I really feel positive. And simply since you really feel positive doesn’t imply that is that. Let me test the blood stress on the time, we’re like, OK, that you must go to the remainder room or test together with your physician instantly. After which final, I suppose, simply the stigma of, “hey, my granddaddy had it or my mother had it, and we simply sort of settle for it”. Nevertheless it doesn’t need to be that approach.
And that’s what we’re making an attempt to push on the market, particularly by way of the well being literacy piece is that prevention is healthier than remedy. We will forestall it from taking place. We don’t ever have to speak about it. I imply, so we don’t, we don’t ever have to supply a remedy for it. So, I stated prevention is healthier than curing it. So, if we are able to forestall it early on, then we cannot have to fret about the price to ourselves, the price to our family members, one thing occurred with it self-wired in the long run.
What medicines would you recommend or suppose based mostly on consumption out of your volunteers and members in your packages?
Proper. Properly, I’d say, as a result of I’m not medical, so I did put that out right here, so I can’t go in depth with that. However by way of what I hear from folks, it’s simply totally different multivitamins. Lots of people are going extra in the direction of a wholeness, a wellness sort of medicines or mixtures. You, in fact, need to watch out about that due to the laws of what you’re taking, however undoubtedly these issues.
In relation to particular remedy, although, it’s a matter of you simply going to the physician and having that dialog, and so they’ll see if they should put you on, it’s known as a beta blocker or a type of sorts of medicines. However it will be just about as much as you and your doctor as to what remedy. And in addition, too, I’d say, contain the pharmacists within the dialog. I feel a superhero would oftentimes neglected of the dialog, pharmacist.
How a lot does psychological well being affect coronary heart well being? And what are a few of the finest methods to deal with each on the identical time?
Yeah, it’s a enormous, enormous barrier. There’s a number of research on the market speaking about how anxiousness, food plan, and melancholy can improve the chance of coronary heart illness now. There are totally different racial boundaries that sure populations, these Black folks face, that improve stress. I imply, research on the market, day in and day trip, research being put out about these dangers and the way that influences general coronary heart well being. So, ensuring that we’re, I all the time say, you’re being conscious, food plan, exercising and being conscious. It’s like mindfulness meditation.
And simply having a very long time, unplugging your self actually is the reply to that from a psychological well being perspective. And simply sort of having that piece, if you’ll, as a result of you might not notice that the stress contributes to it too. There’s a number of stress components. You are worried about payments, you are concerned about children, you are concerned about your job or what have you ever. So, there’s a number of various factors associated to psychological well being. And we must always take away that stigma of psychological well being and notice that there are psychological well being assets out right here which might be accessible.
What are three methods that may assist African People handle this power stress that contributes to hypertension?
Yeah, one, and that is what I personally did, after I was taking from the thoughts of this meditation piece, which goes to YouTube, a number of you could have smartphones, not all people, however some folks do. I imply, even for those who don’t have entry to your native library, however go on the market and discover some meditation movies, discover respiration workouts, even issues that don’t essentially price you something. You purchase your self, you could have time alone, you possibly can meditate or you are able to do respiration workouts.
However simply these sorts of issues all through the day, serving to you keep grounded, serving to your blood stress keep down, sort of protecting you in that peaceable state. I feel these assist. If you wish to take it a step additional, the web site, findhealthga.org. So, Discover Well being has a ton of various assets on this, if that you must communicate with someone, or for those who simply search for different sorts of assets, I feel you could possibly go to an internet site like that and get the make it easier to want. So these are undoubtedly two choices I’d take into account.
How can we adapt conventional African American diets for higher coronary heart well being?
Proper. In order that’s an important query. That’s an enormous problem. Massive time, particularly being right here within the South, I feel by simply being open to modification of food plan and realizing the long-term profit that, okay, most likely modifying my food plan now, that’s going to, probably may save me for having a coronary heart assault sooner or later. Simply these sorts of issues, I feel actually would, would make main shifts, possibly that Kool-Help doesn’t want two cups of sugar, possibly it wants a half a cup of sugar.
Possibly that you must use a pure sweetener versus utilizing granulated sugar. So, these sorts of issues you could have a look at. There could also be sure changes. You’ve seen folks additionally advocate with vegan and vegetarian diets, or what’s the vegan possibility? So, versus utilizing one factor, may you utilize cauliflower?
In order that’s to maintain one thing for that. So, these are small modifications. I actually suppose these are the sorts of modifications that would assist with food plan modification. However to take it only one step additional, if I can, there are a number of populations and those that we serve more often than not who don’t even have entry to those recent greens. After which not to mention, not nervous about how can I make one thing fancy or no, I’m so that you’re simply making an attempt to eat as we speak. So these are the actual issues.
In order that’s why I feel, it’s on us and we’re in communities from a person degree, or for a enterprise or group degree to actually have a look at these issues and say, okay, what are these various factors in communities which might be blocking folks which might be barriots to folks really getting wholesome and dwelling their healthiest life.
Is there an internet site folks can go to be taught extra about Hight Well being and the Atlanta Hypertension Initiative?
Yeah, completely. So, all the things could be discovered on our web site. It’s www.hight.well being, we stored it easy. You may as well simply put in Hight.Well being in your URL browser, and it’ll pop up. So undoubtedly go in there and look into the occasions we now have. We did over 40 occasions in 2024, and we’re going to, greater than double that in 2025. So, we all the time put up an occasion on our social media pages on our web site.
You possibly can go to our web site. So far as the Atlanta Hypertension Initiative, we’re on the final wave. So, you possibly can join throughout the subsequent week or two, then you possibly can nonetheless be concerned in it. And now I’m going to have a cap. We do have one other Hypertension-related program, the Wholesome Coronary heart Ambassador Blood Stress Self Monitor program that we now have in Clayton County. And that’ll be beginning in January, however there’s nonetheless just a few stipulations by way of which need to be linked to.
If you need info, you possibly can attain out to us, and we must always offer you info on that one. There’ll even be another well being and wellness packages we work rolling out all year long. We will’t let folks learn about it but. We’ve an occasion, January sixteenth, which is the third Thursday in January. We’re having our first mini well being useful resource truthful on the Hapeville Department Library. That’s one among our flagship occasions that we now have.
It’s additionally in partnership with the Hapeville Library and their diaper and interval merchandise giveaway for you over to the neighborhood. It’s going to be screenings there, well being distributors, et cetera. So, this invitations you to return out and keep locked in with us, and let’s simply enhance the well being of Georgia.
Terrence Hight Jr. advancing healthcare for underserved communities
Terrence Hight Jr.’s work with Hight Well being isn’t solely reworking the way in which underserved communities entry healthcare, however it is usually setting the stage for a more healthy, extra equitable future. By tackling the foundation causes of well being disparities—whether or not by way of progressive hypertension administration packages, neighborhood outreach, or advocating for higher entry to care—Hight Well being is proving that change is feasible. With the Atlanta Hypertension Initiative and different groundbreaking tasks, Hight Well being continues to guide the cost in addressing the power well being challenges confronted by African People, all whereas emphasizing the significance of schooling, prevention, and accessible healthcare options. To remain knowledgeable about upcoming occasions and initiatives, go to www.hight.well being and turn out to be a part of the motion for higher well being in Georgia.