Sleep Like A Baby Tonight

10) A Call to Embrace

For each system we are trying to fix in our society, solutions always begin by paying attention to each other - and I mean really paying attention. There is so much anger in America right now - anger, and disappointment, and a desire to be proven right, to "one up" our political opponent, or whoever we are competing with. And we flatter ourselves that we have truth, that we have right in our corner, so we're justified in feeling this sense of certainty. And we're justified in condemning "the other". But this only feeds the shaming cycle. It's a cycle that goes round and round and causes more pain. Only by embracing the other can this cycle be stopped.

9) What the NBA Can Teach Us About Feelings

Isn't it ironic that an NBA team is demonstrating principles that you'd think would be automatically built into any healthcare system? Wouldn't it be important to create a culture of joy for every worker in that system? Wouldn't it be absolutely essential that you teach them how to be mindful, how to stay present and aware, to increase better performance and quality? Wouldn't you think that compassion would be something you would want to help foster, for the patients yes, but also for each other? What if there were a #StrengthInNumbers culture in healthcare, where peer support was so strong that no one individual doctor felt the weight of perfection on his or her shoulders?

7) Why is HIV Care So Good?

HIV providers have been forced to do something that few other providers have to do - tackle the issue of shame, and create an atmosphere where it is safe on both sides to be vulnerable and honest. For many people, it takes a special kind of courage to even admit that they have this disease - getting treated requires them to engage in that reality on a regular basis, to walk into a physical space where other people have the disease and show their face as one of those people. HIV providers (and I'm including all of the staff in that term) often take on the role of social worker in addition to being a doctor, nurse, office administrator, physician's assistant.

SerialRachel WeissburgNovember 30, 2017HIV, compassion, listening, team care, Oakland, EBAC, shame, trust, storytelling Comment

6) The Price of Poverty

In other words, whether we want to admit it or not, people with less money get worse care, which not only affects their health but other aspects of their lives. The reason I am experiencing these breakdowns in care coordination with such overwhelming frequency is because I am currently part of the "safety net population", and therefore have fewer choices about where and how I receive my care.

5) The Right to Liberty

My experience in the psych ward frightened me in a way that no other healthcare experience had ever frightened me. Of course it was uncomfortable on a physical level, but that wasn't it. Physical pain is a part of my life. The part that was new was having my liberty stripped from me.

4) Sleep Like A Baby Tonight

"You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like someone else’s suicide
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight"

- U2, "Sleep Like A Baby Tonight," Songs of Innocence

3) A Matter of Trust

In the midst of working on policy stuff, I decided to go back to school and study Organizational Science, a field of study that resembles an MBA, but with a greater emphasis on human behavior rather than finance.

2) Mind the Gap

When healthcare is talked about in the news, it's usually a question of access - who does and doesn't have access to insurance, and how expensive that insurance is - premiums, deductibles, prescription drugs, etc. All of that is incredibly important, and has impacted my life profoundly on a personal level. But there are some other important areas that get, for whatever reason, less attention.

1) How It All Began . . .

SerialRachel WeissburgNovember 5, 2017HIV, migraines, system failure, compassion, suffering, voiceless Comments

Sometimes, you can't identify the holes that need to be filled until you have fallen through them.

Rachel Weissburg