Patient voting matters

We’re re-featuring this piece from 2020 as the 2024 election in America approaches.

I started thinking about how to approach voter participation as a healthcare professional. I began wearing a “Vote” button on my lapel and closed visits with: “Don’t forget to register to vote,” or “Have you made a plan to vote?”

I worried about whether patients would feel the topic was out of place—questions about politics may seem to encourage contentious or uncomfortable exchanges, particularly during a time when partisanship is high and many people report distrust or contempt for those on the other side of the political spectrum.

What I found surprised me. Although my patients’ views may not mirror mine, they’ve expressed gratitude for the reminder. Voting has the potential to elevate us as individuals into citizens working to improve the health of our nation. Similarly, we can elevate our patients to agents of change through the education, support, and resources we provide. If a patient seeks to draw me into a political debate, I find it best to deflect the conversation back to the patient, “I want all my patients to vote because it makes democracy healthier.” My Hippocratic oath and my duty as a citizen are compatible.

Marginalized populations may especially benefit from support from encouragement to vote. Low-income and minority patients suffer the greatest consequences when elected leaders ignore their basic needs. Several of my patients have expressed gratitude for the time that I took to explain the steps for how to vote.

We can also place voting reminders visually in their clinic and add information to after-visit summary documents. Many voters will need reminders as well as detailed instructions, since large numbers of Americans have never participated in an election before and may not know how or why to vote.

Would adding voter registration and participation to the health maintenance list alongside flu shots and mammograms add a valuable extra layer of encouragement for our patients as voters? Maybe.

Am I going to keep recommending to my learners and colleagues to engage their patients as voters? Absolutely.

Here are my top four tips for encouraging patients to vote: 

1. Wear visual reminders to vote, such as lanyards or buttons.

2. Ask patients if they have a plan for casting their ballot.

3. Find out details on voting in your state/locality and be ready to provide two simple instructions for how patients can register and vote. 

4. Express confidence in your patients’ ability to make a difference as a voter.