Rep. Beverly Earle

Is there a link between your spiritual and physical health?

At their annual conference in Indiana today, members of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators will explore that issue.

Each year the caucus gathers at the Indiana Statehouse to discuss legislative issues that impact African Americans, and each year the topic of health care is front and center. But this year, for the first time, members will hear from advocates who draw a link between an individual’s spiritual and physical health, said N.C. Rep. Beverly Earle of Charlotte, who chairs the group’s Health and Human Services Committee.

“This session is going to be a little bit different,” she told Qcitymetro.com. “I think it’s going to be right on time for where we are, for where African Americans are in this country right now.”

The session – Black America’s Dialogue on Health: Disease Prevention Through Transformative Living -- will focus on how physical, mental and spiritual health intersect; what health care practitioners can do to coordinate prevention and care; and how legislators can support their efforts.

The session will be streamed live over the Internet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. To listen, go to: dialogueonhealth.nbcsl.org/.

Online viewers will have an opportunity to submit questions to various speakers.

Earle said she’d like to see black churches become more involved in issues relating to their members’ health.

One of the speakers, she said, will discuss how blacks internalize racism and how that can lead to stress-related health problems.

“I think that is very key right now,” she said, “because a lot of us had not been as exposed to blatant racism as we are right now, and I think a lot of that is due to the leadership in this country, and it’s kind of trickling down because of the president being who he is. I think a lot of racism is coming out, and a lot of us are dealing with that.”

For more information, go to http://www.nbcsl.org to learn more about NBCSL.

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