There was an understanding that empowering Black women through self-help groups led to Black women feeling more ownership over their own health and the health of both their immediate families and larger community levels.

University of Wisconsin - Madison

There was also an understanding that these groups were in themselves a form of healthcare and worked to empower individuals which in turn involved their physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health. Also, these groups often included public health education in ways that explicitly centered the experiences of Black women and acknowledged the medical trauma and need for this information in a non-medical setting.

How Self-Help Groups Served as Medical Care

Schalk, Sami. Black Disability Politics, New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478027003

Black Disability Politics

How Self-Help was a Practice of Community Care for the Black Community

Self-help groups did not work within the medical model of disability and instead centered individuals as experts in their own experiences, and emphasized the need to address internalized oppression and create systems of community support rather than emphasizing eliminating or relieving someone from disability.

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