Black Health Explained: Faith Metlock closes the divide between illness and health care, one infographic at a time

Faith Metlock poses in front of Ohio State University’s College of Nursing, Credit | Christian Harsa, The Lantern

By: Kasie Rogers 

With eye-catching infographics about racialized health disparities, Faith Metlock, a fourth-year studying nursing, has created the platform Black Health Explained to help make health information accessible.

“I knew I couldn’t tackle the larger issue because it's rooted in systemic oppression and racism, but I could tackle a smaller portion by making health information more readily available and understood through social media and other outlets,” Faith said.

The platform consists of a website, an Instagram page that features in-depth blog posts, crisp Instagram graphics, and content where Metlock shares her experiences pursuing a nursing career. 

Faith’s Instagram has provided information about high blood pressure, tips for managing stress, and even clarity about COVID-19 preventative procedures. 

In the blog posts, Faith said she takes a deeper dive on the ways health intersects daily life, covering topics from young adult mental health to skin care.

“My target audience is the Black young adult — for Black people around the ages of 18 to 35,” she said. “I write to the young Black adult, with hopes that this information is being well received by the Black young adult.”

Faith comes from a family of nurses, but she said her journey at Ohio State began with her heart set on pharmacy. 

“I always overlooked nursing because my mom and my grandma are nurses and so I was like, ‘I can’t do it. I have to do something different,’” she said.

Ultimately, her desire for patient interaction, alongside her aptitude for public service, led her to nursing. 

Faith’s experiences as a nursing student — working in clinical settings and conducting research — guided her work on Black Health Explained.

Metlock stands in front of Meiling Hall. Credit | Christian Harsa, The Lantern

Through her unique platform, one of Faith’s main objectives is to develop greater health literacy in the Black community. 

“The issue that I noticed with pushing out the health-related information is also making it more readily understood,” she said. “I think the biggest step to mitigate [the Black community’s distrust of medical professionals] is by pushing health literacy and more preventative care measures and that’s what I hope to do with Black Health Explained.”

Faith said one piece of feedback she’s received has been about making the information applicable. She found that after people were made aware of potential risks to their health, they wanted to know what to do about it. 

“Now I make sure to include more of the action steps that [people] can do to take control of [their] health now,” she said. 

One of these actionable steps comes in the form of a free wellness guide, available now on the website. The guide includes specific tasks individuals can do to take charge of their health. 

“When our community is affected by so many health disparities, we need to find other ways to get this information to [Black people],” Faith said. 

In the future, Faith said she plans to transform her blog posts into video content and incorporate them into both her career and her research. 

“I do want to continue this for life at this point, so I’m ready for it to continue evolving however [it] sees fit,” Faith said. 

View more stories from Black x Bold’s Black Voices project here.