Homework #26: Looking back and forward

There are six key insights and ideas that I have learned during our study on illness and dying. These are:

1.      -Health care in the US is not all its cracked up to be. Even if you have health insurance (and many don’t) it may not cover you when you get sick [Sicko]

2.      -The US healthcare system is driven by the incentive to maximize profit for insurance companies; pharmaceutical companies; hospitals and doctors. [Sicko]

3.      -Most people fear and deny death. Others don’t know how to respond to sick people because they are scared of confronting illness and death. [Tuesdays With Morrie]

4.      -People expect heath care like the kind on TV. They want to be treated with top-notch medicine and machines. Hospitals may not have the machine or feel it’s needed but the people demand it. They feel  they should be guaranteed good health outcomes. [Art as medicine 12/10/10 – WNYC Radio – Studio360.org]

5.      -DNR orders may cause conflict between patient and families or families and doctors. [Grey’s Anatomy – TV show on ABC]

6.      -People take different approaches to health care such as preventive care and homeopathy (acupuncture, tea, bed-rest) vs. antibiotics and meds. US healthcare tends to overmedicate patients. This is partly driven by profits for pharmaceutical companies. [Class discussion; Sicko]

Some helpful sources in gaining these insights:

·        -Sicko helped me see what our country’s health care system is all about – money is more important than people.

·        -Tuesdays With Morrie helped me see that death is a part of life and if we understand that, it helps us live better lives.

·        -People’s experiences – Talking to people I know about their experiences has helped me learn the experience of being in healthcare institutions. This includes my grandmother in a nursing home; a family friend in intensive care; and a family friend who had to fight for DNR.

·        -Class discussion helped me to see that there are different approaches to healing.

An area that I would like to explore in the rest of this unit is ways people are trying to find to die with more dignity and respect. We can try to seek out examples of this.