Fellow Feature: Josie Lee
On the Fung Fellowship, how communities can address trauma, and the ‘Emotional Revolution’
Josie Lee is an Honors Fung Fellow pursuing a degree in public health and a certificate in design innovation. Within the Fellowship she has worked on projects ranging from scaling the impact of a childhood nutrition program, to designing clothing that enables greater dignity in aging.
As she prepares to leave Berkeley she knows that she will be bringing with her not only the unique content provided by the Fellowship, but also a much greater comfort to navigate ambiguity. Here, she shares about the childhood experiences that led her to pursue public health, as well as her hopes for the future.
On what led her to study public health
“When I was six, my oldest of two sisters, Hannah, then 11, passed away unexpectedly. As a six-year-old, although I was sad and confused, I was unable to comprehend loss. Instead, I was moved to comfort and console the rest of my family who were grieving much more visibly. Ever since then I have been acutely aware of the experiences of others, in particular their experiences with loss and pain. I have also been curious about how the groups individuals are a part of (families, communities, countries) react to hardship and remain resilient.
“That is what we learn to do in public health. We study and evaluate health at the group rather than individual level, and advocate for stronger policies, programs, and products that better support the essential, yet incredibly complex, phenomenon that is population health.”
On the public health issue she is most passionate about
The public health issue that I am most passionate about is a phenomena called ACEs, and an approach called ‘trauma-informed’ care and/or education. ACEs stands for adverse childhood experiences. Facing adversity such as the incarceration of a relative, substance abuse within the family, or physical or emotional neglect or abuse during one’s childhood, especially when there is a combination of such factors, has been shown to be the root cause for some of the most challenging physical and mental health issues of our time. This is because such childhood experiences are shown to affect not just brain development, but also the hormone, immune, and genetic regulatory systems — leading to a variety of adverse health outcomes.
“Facing adversity such as the incarceration of a relative, substance abuse within the family, or physical or emotional neglect or abuse during one’s childhood...has been shown to be the root cause for some of the most challenging physical and mental health issues of our time.”
Fortunately, we as a nation, and in particular, California (lead by the Cal alumna Dr. Nadine Burke Harris) have gotten much better at screening for ACEs. The next steps, however, are to better treat individuals, heal communities, and reduce prevalence through prevention. To do this, experts on ACEs advocate for the ‘trauma-informed’ approach. This is a framework that includes understanding the prevalence of traumatic experiences, recognizing and responding to health effects and behavior caused by them, addressing retraumatization, and incorporating this knowledge into future policies, procedures, and practices.
I feel very lucky that after my sister passed away I was made to feel safe. I went to a school that practiced the trauma-informed approach for the most part. My other older sister, however, experienced another large ACE event at school shortly after losing our sister. These combined events made her experience much different than mine and her recovery more taxing and turbulent at times. Her incredible strength and my family’s resilience inspires me to talk about and advocate for the destigmatization of trauma and the trauma-informed approach.
On her current projects in the Fellowship
I was drawn to become a Fung Fellow by the opportunity to learn about the intersection of public health and technology. What inspired me to continue as an Honors Fung Fellow was the opportunity to improve my qualitative design research skills. I find they are so infrequently taught, but incredibly valuable!
Currently, within the Fellowship I am working on the other side of the age spectrum. On a team of other Honors Fellows and in partnership with the Elder Care Alliance, we are working with and for older adults and their caregivers who face challenges getting dressed, in the hope that we can provide greater comfort and dignity for both parties.
Although this may not immediately sound connected to the passion I previously mentioned, I have actually found there to be many important similarities between the two problem areas. Specifically, the idea that challenges do not stop at the individual, but extend to loved ones and family or community systems in different, yet equally important ways. When it comes to older adults who are having challenges with their clothing, more often than not, their caregiver is a family member. When designing, the caregiver can easily be overlooked when the needs of the older adult (and wearer) are more obvious. After countless hours of user interviews with wearers and caregivers, my team has decided to focus on the caregiver as the main user in our design framework.
“Challenges do not stop at the individual, but extend to loved ones and family or community systems in different, yet equally important ways.”
This connects back to ACEs because children don’t always have to be the focal point of an experience for it to be considered adverse or traumatic for them. For this reason, as I learn more about caregivers, I am simultaneously able to grow more empathetic for kids bearing witness to trauma, or who are within a family or community that has been affected. This semester, I look forward to testing out creative qualitative research methods that will allow me to better understand the caregiver, and hope to create insights that can be generalized to other examples of designing for ‘supporting actors,’ if you will.
On the impact she wants to have on the world
In one of my first classes this semester we were asked to go around and introduce ourselves and then share what we considered to be our ‘superpower.’ I said that my personal investment in emotional intelligence (EQ) was my superpower. The Oxford dictionary defines emotional intelligence as, “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
By seeking professional help at times, surrounding myself with incredible friends who also value investing in relationships and emotional understanding, and consuming information from experts such as Brene Brown, I have seen how impactful investing in EQ can be. That’s why sometimes, my friends make fun of me because I always say that I would love to be a part of an ‘Emotional Revolution.’
It’s not that I think people should cry more, rather, I believe that understanding interpersonal relationships and emotions –not just the ‘bad and sad ones,’ but the ‘other ones;’ such as joy, excitement, and surprise! etc., — is critically important to addressing addressing health and wellness issues, especially the issue of ACEs. As I mentioned earlier, led by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, California has gotten better at screening for ACEs, which is an important first step. The ‘revolution’ I think about is one where we take the next step by making a collective effort to invest in emotional intelligence in order to treat and heal individuals, families, and communities, and prevent more trauma in the future.”
“I believe that understanding interpersonal relationships and emotions –not just the ‘bad and sad ones,’ but the ‘other ones;’ such as joy, excitement, and surprise! etc.,— are critically important to addressing health and wellness issues.”
Connect with Josie // Edited by Lauren Leung
Fellow Features is a series dedicated to showcasing the Fung Fellowship community and learning more about their lives and their stories. If you’re interested in being featured, email funginstitute@berkeley.edu!
Learn more about the Fung Fellowship at fungfellows.berkeley.edu.
