About the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH)
The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with an international membership started in 2003. Our organization is committed to the Health At Every Size® (HAES®) principles.
The Health At Every Size® Principles and Framework of Care are continuously evolving alternatives to the weight-centered approach to treating clients and patients of all sizes. We educate about medical anti-fat bias and advocate for healthcare to align with the Health at Every Size® approach.
Learn more about the Health at Every Size® Principles and Framework of Care.
ASDAH Purpose, Vision & Values
Purpose
ASDAH’s purpose is to create the conditions for people of all sizes, particularly those most impacted by systemic anti-fat bias, to have equitable and barrier-free access to the care and healthcare resources we need to support our wellbeing.
Vision
We dream of a world where care:
is compassionate;
is collective and community-centered;
is without systemic barriers to wellbeing, care, and healing; and
takes the whole person into account to provide personalized care.
Values
Abundance Mindset
We believe that there is an abundance of resources in this work for everyone, particularly the most impacted by medical fatphobia, to receive the care that they need and deserve. There are enough resources for ASDAH to do its work and pay the marginalized folks who labor on its behalf. By being in right relationship with ourselves and others and by uplifting solidarity, reparations, wealth redistribution, and mutual aid networks rather than charity and the status quo of the nonprofit industrial complex, those resources will easily flow to and through this organization.
Collaboration
We value collaboration, cooperation, and interdependence over competition and individualism. We cannot, neither should we, do this work alone, individually or as a single organization. We rely on each other, fat liberation activists, organizers, and scholars; healthcare professionals; and community members. We depend on collective thinking, wisdom, scholarship, and action in order to accomplish our shared goals.
Trailblazing
With a deep commitment to our purpose and vision, we forge a new path forward as we build the new world beyond the abolition of health and the medical industrial complex. We trailblaze with innovative thought leadership, new ideas & methods, and being an example of values-aligned leadership. Our goal is to be the go-to organization for institutional support regarding the intersection of health equity and fat liberation.
Accountability
As an organization we strive to be accountable to self and to those with whom we are in community. Our goal is to align our actions with our values and to do so with intention and integrity. In ASDAH spaces we aim to foster accountability rather than “safe spaces”, which cannot be assured; nor bravery, which puts undue burden on marginalized folks.
Curiosity
We acknowledge that we do not have all the answers. There is no one answer to the problems we are trying to solve. There is no one way to know, be, or do things. Understanding this, we commit to being curious, open, and inquisitive. Rather than finding The Answer, we commit to being in the question of liberation, the ongoing process of exploration, investigation, learning, and unlearning.
Joy
The work to disrupt fatphobia within the medical industrial complex is challenging, exhausting, and, at times, even demoralizing and hopeless. Despite this we must not lose sight of our humanity, love, and joy. We commit to choosing, experiencing, fostering, and creating joy in the face of oppression and discrimination and in spite of insurmountable odds.
Transformation
Despite calls for things to remain the same, the world is crying out for change. Those who are most impacted by medical fatphobia want change. Our goal is to be a part of that change. We commit to and prioritize growth and transformation so that we can better serve our global community and succeed as an organization.