Every Sickness, Every Death is "Unnatural"

In Haiti, Every Sickness, Every Death is Unnatural
I was raised in a country where every sickness and every death is believed to be caused by some evil spirit. As a result, when people get sick, instead of seeking medical assistance, they go to the “Voodoo Priest’ to seek help.

However, there is also this other group, the church goers, who rely solely on their faith to find healing. They fail to realize that believing in God does not dismiss the responsibility of seeking medical assistance when the need arises. Although, in some instances, God intervenes and provides healing to people who cry out to Him, people still need to do their part in doing what they need to do.
There are some people who believe in the efficacy of natural remedy. These people, whenever they are sick, their natural tendency is to take a dose of tee of some sort. The danger in this practice is that without a diagnostic, how can you appropriately take the right medicine? I believe that one of the reasons why people try natural remedies as their first option, sometimes as their only option, is because most people in Haiti cannot afford the care of healthcare costs.

Not too long ago, there was a message on my voice mail from an old friend saying that her granddaughter got killed in Haiti. The only thing that I could think of as I was listening to her message was that her granddaughter got shut. However, when I got to speak to her, she explained to me that the child was sick with a fever for three days and when she was taken to the hospital, she died. Her whole explanation was that someone was the cause of the child’s death, somebody who probably doesn’t like her son, the child’s father. She added, “If they had called me to inform me of the child’s condition, I would have prayed, and the child would not have died.

We can safely conclude that People’s economic, social, gender, religious, status play a major role on how they see health and health care communications

The Burden of Healthcare on Single Mothers

A large part of today's population is made up of single parent homes and statistics show this phenomenon is on the rise. Around 90% of this group are made up of single mothers. The standard of living for these single mother homes is often remarkably lower than that of two parent homes and because of this, healthcare related issues of the parent are neglected. With the number of single parent homes on the rise, so is the issue of how to help these parents receive proper healthcare.

Mothers of single parent homes have more responsibilities in aspects like time, energy, and money and all three are consumed twice as quickly when the responsibility isn't being shared by a second parent in the household.

There are two major factors that can be seen as the cause of a lack of healthcare among single mothers; time and money. Often single mothers don't have time to make healthcare related appointments due to having work or be with the kids. They need somewhere to go that is convenient and doesn't require a large chunk of their time. The second factor, money, plays the largest role. Many single mothers do not have health insurance. Because of this they must forgo what could be considered preventative medicine, like checkups, and only go in when absolutely necessary. Also, when having to choose between either getting healthcare for themselves or for their children, they will get healthcare for their children.

Many single mothers view options of healthcare as a luxury and are forced to use it only in cases of emergency, and rely on the emergency rooms and free clinics. Cash benefits these single parent homes receive is not enough to allow them healthcare provisions so outside of an emergency they do not use healthcare services.

There are organizations that do exist to help fill the gap left between government help and employment that doesn't offer insurance. One such organization is a nonprofit called WellCare Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona. Their mission is to provide free, continuous, integrated healthcare to single working mothers and their children in need. An organization such as this allows a one stop for healthcare for both the mother and child. And because it is offered as a continuous healthcare provider a relationship and history begins to form between physicians and patients, allowing the physician to offer better and more thorough medical care.

The conceptions of healthcare by single mothers is its too expensive, time consuming, and can only be used in emergencies. Whereas this is a very real problem, there are organizations and opportunities in which healthcare can be more readily available to single mother homes. The problem is a lack of communication about these resources to single mothers in a way that is convenient to them and will actually reach single parent homes, not just the people already using healthcare facilities.

Video: The Future Of Health Care Communication, from Sam Basta's blog "Healthcare Innovation By Design."

Acting Ethically

From Trusted Advisor: The financial basis for acting ethically.

Trusting through the waters

Our last class's main discussion was about trust and transparency. I was fortunate enough to come across another blog that was written by someone who feels that in this day in age, open communication is the only thing people do trust. While reading through Vinnet Nayar's post, he pinpointed our generation in the terms of reacting to certain different situations. Trust within a company is easy when everything is going well, or as he puts it "through the calm waters." However, in order to see genuine trust amongest the employees of the company, this same trust needs to be seen through the rough times or the "choppy waters."

Our generation is a fast passed generation in which does not always see the need to wait around to get all the details. Cutting to the chase is the more approachable way to handle situations. He explains that our generation has learned to swift through the information overload we recieve on a daily bases to get to the "heart of the issue." He mentioned transparency was the only way to deal with this generation, and that trust should be the cornerstone of it all. As we look to the news about Toyota and our class discussion comparing this company to Tylenol, we have come to a conclusion that people are all for trust. And when that trust is broken, everything is usually down hill from there unless regained through an action. Everyone wants to feel respected, and everyone wants to be seen as "the good guy and should not be lied to." His ending quote, I feel, really ties it all in with out topic of health care communication. He says, "The only way for a team to succeed is by trusting each other's abilities, action, and talent." While putting this in the health care perspective, I think that when it all comes down to it, these three attributes play a big part in this thing we so heavily look to in any company called trust.

The post: http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/nayar/2009/01/trust-through-transparency.html

If You See Something, Say Something...That Should Be the Policy..

We are living in a world where it seems that ethical behaviors are not encouraged nor rewarded. Even worse, this article shows that ethical actions are sometimes penalized.

We are all human, and none of us is exempt of making mistakes. The problem arises when we are to proud to recognize our mistakes, and even worse, embracing the defensive side when someone pointed them out to us. While reading this article, I could not help asking myself: “Why would a nurse be penalized for reporting a doctor’s unethical conduct?” I must admit that up to this minute, my question has remained unanswered.

I honestly feel that the Mrs. Mitchell should not be penalized for reporting Dr. Arafiles because, first of all, Dr. Arafiles was not doing the right thing. He has been reprimanded in many occasions for indecencies in his prescriptions ‘writing and his way of performing surgery. Secondly, Dr. Arafiles had restriction in his license. Thirdly, he was sending e-mails messages to patients about herbal-supplements that he was selling on the side.

I to some degree, understand Mr. wiley’s logic when he says that the report was made to the state despite of internal efforts to discipline Dr.Arafiles. However, sometimes it is irrelevant to follow ‘complaint’s hierarchy’, depending on the magnitude of the event that has occurred. For instance, let say I live in the dorm and I was told on day one that any issue should be reported to the Resident Assistant. However, if I start receiving threats from a fellow hall mate, I may feel that that the Dean Assistant may be more capable to deal with this issue, or even the Campus Safety Director, and consequently decide to go to them instead; especially if my R.A has not shown in the past the capability dealing with issues of this nature.

I feel that Nurse Mitchell was just doing the right thing. Nurses should be encouraged to freely report anything that is not in accordance to the hospital’s principles, or anything that violates the right procedures to treat patients.

Are doctors supposed to be the authority?

After reading the article "Texas Nurse to Stand Trail for Reporting Doctor", I got really frustrated towards the healthcare system. I was actually mad while reading the article. Everything seems so unfair; the doctor was making up excuses to get away from the accusation, and the nurses are the one who got blamed by the public.

Forget about all those laws and obligations; just being a human being, aren't we taught to do the right acts and report for the wrong acts? And healthcare is related to our lives. One single move can take our lives; everything has to be proper and followed the rules. A lot of dead people can be saved if physicans did not make those little mistakes.

Maybe for those physicans, we are merely their "clients" or "tasks"; however, they ought to remind themselves that they are the ones who are controlling our lives. Besides, if anyone realizes there is something wrong going on, he or she has the responsibility to say it out. Keep slient is equal to helping the offender.