The Change I’d Like To See
"Healthcare" threw me off, because I don't think about that system very often -- even if defined broadly. I'm currently working on collective recovery, the concept that all organizations have a piece of the collective rehab that lies ahead of us. I like to say that Covid is as serious as a heart attack, and if we'd had a heart attack, we'd go to rehab. So after Covid, we -- all of us -- have to go to rehab. Collectively, we have not exercised as much, eaten more, and suffered more than we usually do. And this has gone on so long that we have exhausted our stress and coping. At this particular moment, people are feeling like they've hit a wall -- but because we're all in this mess, there isn't anybody left to give us a break. This reminded me of a story I heard about the difference between Hell and Heaven -- people in Heaven feed each other, people in Hell don't.
I want to see two changes. First, I want to redefine the system of healthcare. I want all organizations -- from banks to ballrooms, from stores to amusement parks -- to know that they are part of the "healthcare system" and have a role to play in our rehab. Second, I want each of those organizations to ask, "What is ours to do? What's the suffering we've seen over the past year and what can we do to relieve it?" The answers will be unique. A supermarket might have weekly specials on vegetables, to help us eat more healthily. A bank might give out pens and instructions for writing a gratitude list, a technique proven to make us feel better. The gym might start tai chi in the park to help elderly people recondition. There are an infinite number of small ways in which the "healthcare system of all of us" could manage our rehab.
That's the change I'd like to see.
Mindy Fullilove, MD | Writer & Social Psychiatrist | professor of Urban Policy and Health at The New School
