Growing up with the Kennedy last name, our guest today was no stranger to larger than life pressure and responsibility, and grief and addiction. Throughout his career, Patrick decided to use his famous moniker to highlight the changes that needed and still need to happen in healthcare in regards to mental health and addiction.

Welcome to this episode of What Unites Us, a podcast about building businesses meant to last. We aim to answer some of the toughest questions about branding, leadership, and success while talking to business trailblazers about their biggest lessons learned.

Today, we welcome Patrick Kennedy, politician and mental health and substance use advocate. Patrick talks to us about his start in politics, his familial background with addiction, and what he believes needs to change in substance use and mental health care.

In this episode, you will learn: 

• Patrick’s political origin story (2:14)
• Patrick’s background with mental health and addiction (6:14)
• What Patrick believes should change when treating addiction (11:52)
• A compromise between those who want to restrict information sharing and those who don’t (16:21)
• What could change if we treat the stigma behind mental illness and addiction (18:55)
• Patrick’s tips for those who want to use their voice for advocacy (23:55)
• What’s wrong with healthcare and how to fix it (27:25)

Connect with Patrick Kennedy: 

• Website
• Twitter

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Episode Credits:
Produced by Ginni Media and Unite Us
Original music by Starling Studios

Copyright ©UniteUs2023 all rights reserved
All opinions expressed by podcast guests are solely those of the guest and do not reflect the opinions of Unite Us.

The post A Greater Obligation to Do More: A Conversation with Patrick Kennedy, Congressman, Advocate, Author appeared first on uniteus.com.

Community-based organizations (CBOs) play a vital role in designing and innovating solutions to address their communities’ health. Working alongside their clients, neighbors, and local leaders, CBOs are often the source of the most creative, and ultimately, the most sustainable solutions to address service gaps, health inequities, and emergent challenges.

In an era of growing needs and shrinking resources, how can we ensure these organizations are well-resourced and supported in their efforts to catalyze growth and opportunity in communities near and far?

Join us at our panel, Advocating for Community, which will elevate this critical role, drawing on experiences in communities across the country to show how CBOs are indeed on the frontline of policy design and implementation, and asserting themselves as advocates and leaders at both the local, state, and national level.

The post Advocating for Community: Leading Local and State Transformation appeared first on uniteus.com.