US Health Care Policy is Humiliating: We Can Really Do Better

       We could Do Better if we cared.  This is why Public health care is a key part of Phase I of #ProjectDoBetter:

“Many people don’t know that we are in a maternal and infant health crisis in… Our country is currently the least safe to give birth and be born in among industrialized countries, and…not having access to high-quality maternity care…”

(from NPR By Rachel Treisman…)

     While these are difficult problems to solve, maternal health care and the long held biases that lead to these outcomes, the problems can be solved.  But, working together across issue interest divides to connect all of our work together is crucial:

 

     We really can Do Better

Shira

Action Items:

1.) Thoughtful Readers, share your ideas for health care solutions, please.

2.) Write a story, post or comment here, that uses those thoughts.

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Click here for:

Learning through story:

                                                   Babylon5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem,  Lupin,  La Casa de Papel/Money Heist, or El Ministerio del Tiempo Reviews

Learning via Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or

 Learning from Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing (including Ann & Anna…)

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about Phase I of #ProjectDoBetter.  This work is my personal way (as opposed to founding the Project, overall) of contributing to building tools that can help increase empathy and compassion in our world.  Story, as part of how we see our world, helps us make sense of and define our actions in this world.  And remember how important story is also as part of this project. Let’s Do Better.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

ShiraDest

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Black Maternal Health: We Could Do Better if We CAREd…

     This is why Project Do Better starts by emphasizing public health care and self-education for advocacy, starting now, in Phase I:

“Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications compared to white women.”

(from NPR’s April Dembosky, and others at NPR, several times since October…)

And it’s preventable…

       While not all of our problems can be fixed immediately, education is the common denominator for solving them, which is why independent and learner-led education forms the bedrock of Project Do Better’s Public Health Care advocacy:

starting in Phase I, particularly via the free Holistic High School and college algebra lesson plans linked below, and then becoming even more personalized during Phase II.  Health care, education, and other key infrastructure issues all come to bear on one another in an interconnected way.

     We really can Do Better

Shira

Action Items:

1.) Dear Readers, share your thoughts on long term problem-solving solutions, please.

2.) Write a story, post or comment that uses those thoughts.

*****************

Click here for:

Learning through story:

                                                   Babylon5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem,  Lupin,  La Casa de Papel/Money Heist, or El Ministerio del Tiempo Reviews

Learning via Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or

 Learning from Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing (including Ann & Anna…)

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  This work is my personal way (as opposed to founding the Project, overall) of contributing to building tools that can help increase empathy and compassion in our world.  Story, as part of how we see our world, helps us make sense of and define our actions in this world.  And remember how important story is also as part of this project. Let’s Do Better.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

ShiraDest

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Repost of Day 52/67: Five Month GED, Water, and Public Health for Project Do Better

So, how would you figure out how much water is currently in your local aquifer, say, if you live in Albuquerque, New Mexico?  So, what does ground water have to do with all of our health, and why do we need to understand this, as citizens of a republic? #ProjectDoBetter works to explain, and share, in the  Middle of week 14/18 Lesson Plan […]

Day 52/67: Five Month GED, Water, and Health — Inspiring Critical Thinking and Community via Books, Lessons, and Story

Parashat Yitro 5783, Delegating Authority, and Public Health Effectiveness?

   In this week’s parashah we see how a visit from an older more experienced leader, like Yitro, can provide guidance on delegating authority to accomplish tasks that would not get done otherwise, not to mention burning one out in the attempt.  Last year, we asked about  Parashat Yitro, and Laws, versus Policies. 

Photo by Sora Shimazaki on Pexels.com

  This year, we ask how those policies can be implemented more effectively for the good of all of us, and how laws can be passed or changed using processes that share power, as Yitro urges his son in law to do.    And as both Gandhi and Dr. King did.    Public health care especially requires good awareness of how to share knowledge and power effectively for the good of the hospital system and of those who may need it.

 

 

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how Phase I of Project Do Better, linked below, can work from both the top down, at the federal level, and from the grassroots up, at local and state levels, to enhance Public Health Service offerings of mental health services to all residents.

2.) Write something that uses those thoughts.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Learning via Story from Show and Film Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction Planning  & Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Thoughtful Readers,   please consider    #Project Do Better.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Shabbat Shira, Tu B’Shvat, 2023 CE, 12023 HE, and Collective Mental Health?

       How does one reconcile the Song at the Sea in this week’s parashah, Parashat Beshalach,  with a hope for developing the habit of nonviolence in humanity, over the long term?  Yes, this is a song being sung by grateful survivors of tremendous horrors from their enslavers, but it still celebrates that very violence which the angels were commanded not to celebrate.  The celebration of Tu b’Shvat, the Birthday of the Trees, seems to help, as it reminds me of the commandment not to cut down fruit trees when going to war, as it says ‘for a tree is not a man, to make war upon’ but of course the more pragmatic sense of the order is that trees are both food and water holders, yet, it is a start at reducing the violence of war, perhaps. 

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

    I hope that this work helps someone, somewhere.  To make a greater impact, our public health services need much upgrading, and public access to long term and specific trauma trained mental health services in particular, need far more support in a variety of ways.  Bullying and violence exist within the context of a “might makes right” culture that enables these ills.  They can be changed, but it will take persistence, patience, and a great deal of cooperation with kind people, and that non-cooperation of which Gandhi spoke and which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. harnessed in the American context, to build lasting change.

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how Phase I of Project Do Better, linked below, can work from both the top down, at the federal level, and from the grassroots up, at local and state levels, to enhance Public Health Service offerings of mental health services to all residents.

2.) Write something that uses those thoughts.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Learning via Story from Show and Film Reviews

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Long Range Nonfiction Planning  & Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Thoughtful Readers,   please consider    #Project Do Better.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat Bo (בֹּא) 5783, Unnecessary Deaths, and Equal Access to Health Care

        This week’s parashah is Bo (“Come!”), the 15th parashah overall, and third portion of Shemot/Exodus.  The last of the plagues, the first Pesach/Passover, and the Exit from Egypt are all in this week’s annual cycle of the portion for this week.

  Last year, we asked about Parashat Bo, and when Come really means Go,  from a linguistic and other points of view.   From an access to health care point of view, such a basic human right and whether everyone has actual access to that right shows the status of a society, and partly, how just or injust that society is.  This, in turn, shows how stable and prone to revolution or violence that society might be at a given moment in history, which is important for preventing violence, by checking inequality in various areas.

  The first pass-over is not what I would consider an example of justice, nor is it what I would want to hold up as an example of fairness, since the First Born who died were mostly, if at all, not implicated in the decisions and policy-making of that Pharaoh, even if some of those eldest children probably had a hand in upholding the unjust system, as overseers, inheritors, and heads of families.  It is, however, an excellent example of unequal distribution of resources, from information, to wealth, and an unhappy example of the consequences of injustice, that we can avoid in the future.  We really can Do Better.

–

     Last week was the start of the book of Names/Exodus: Parashat Vaera 5783,  looking at the role of humility in public decision making and health care outcomes.

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     We can really Do Better, and Project Do Better proposes a long term plan.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat Vaera 5783, Generational Reparation via Humility, and Public Health Care

        This week’s parashah is Vaera (“And Appeared”), the 14th parashah overall, and second portion of Shemot/Exodus.  The first of the plagues hits Egypt, and whether they originated from the explosion of Thira/Santorini, or from some other source, the ensuing catastrophe is the start of a crisis for Egypt and for the enslaved Hebrews.  Last year, we we had No Words for this disaster but words of rebuke for the rejoicing angels, while the year before, we asked about how Moshe/Moses, analogously to Holmes,  looked at Aaron as Watson, via Moshe’s humility (or act of humility, in accepting his brother to speak for him).

   Now, we wonder whether humility, and acknowledgment of one’s less strong spots, can help to build bridges, and pave the way to repair the wrongs done in the past.  Acknowledging the failings of our public health system in the United States would be a worthy start, a humble start, to repairing those gaps through which many people are allowed to fall, in this country.  That start needs to happen soon, to stop the waste of human potential for solving the urgent problems confronting our world now.

–

     Last week was the start of the book of Names/Exodus: Parashat Shemot 5783, Generational Trauma and Public Health Care .

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     We can really Do Better, and Project Do Better proposes a long term plan.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat Shemot 5783, Generational Trauma and Public Health Care

        This week’s parashah is Shemot (“Names”), the 13th parashah overall, and first portion of Shemot/Exodus.  This is the famous “and there arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph”  parashah.  Mosheh/Moses is born, rescued and adopted by a daughter of Pharaoh, runs away after killing an overseer, and reintroduced to the promise made to his forefathers.  After the names of all of those who went down to live in Egypt with Jacob/Israel are recorded.   Now we begin to see the long term effects of family relationships, and how trauma can travel down through generations.   Here is another reason that long term planning and access to basic survival and equal health care resources for everyone is essential to all of us, unconditionally.

   Last year we looked at this portion from a nation-building point of view Parashat Shemot, and Naming a Nation, while this year, we take a more family oriented approach.   Unlike slavery practiced in the United States, slaves in the ancient world were not entirely deprived of their identity and origins, as we see by the statements in the text of Moses going to Hebrew elders in the land of Goshen where their families lived together.  Nevertheless, the trauma of forced labor and harsh punishments was one that all age groups suffered, and became embedded in the generational mentalities, as with slaves here in the USA.  The requirement to at least appear to obey and to submit leaves scars.  These scars even affect generations who do not live through the direct trauma, as we will see later in the upcoming parshiot.

    The fact that trauma can be passed down through generations makes it all the more crucial for every person, from the earliest age, to have access to competent (for the specific type of trauma) and complete long term access to mental and physical health care.  This necessarily implies a need for a comprehensive set of public health care mental health systems that interface with social welfare and safety net systems.   In other words, universal health care, eventually. 

     Last week was the end of the book of beginnings: Parashat VaYechi 5783, Favoritism vs. Family Mental Health, and The Common Good .

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     We can really Do Better, and Project Do Better proposes a long term plan.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat VaYechi 5783, Favoritism vs. Family Mental Health, and The Common Good

        This week’s parashah is VaYechi, the 12th and final portion of Bereshit/Genesis, and first Torah portion of the secular year 2023 CE/ 12023 HE.  In this parashah, Joseph swears to bury his father up north, gets the double inheritance, promises not to kill his brothers for what they did to him, and then, dies, after making them swear to bury his bones up north, some time in the future.  Once again, we see the effects of favoritism, jealousy, and rigid inheritance rules on family relationships, and how harmful this can all be.   Here is another reason that long term planning and access to basic survival and equal health care resources for everyone is essential to the democratic process, right?

     The common good requires both rule of law and an acceptance by all to refrain from taking personal vendettas to their individually desired conclusions, while trusting in a system of justice that will both resolve existing cases of injustice, and also prevent future wrongs.  This makes favoritism bad both for the general welfare in terms of law and order, and also for public mental and even physical health, due to both fear and threat of violence, as well as the public health menaces which are increased when sanitation, food and water access, and other services are disrupted by ongoing lawlessness.   When a family, especially a ruling or powerful family, does not set the best example for the common good of all without distinction, society degrades into a set of competing groups which then prevents all of us from solving common problems together in a more efficient way for everyone.  Thus, the difference that Joseph shows us between justice (as he got a double portion) and vengeance (as he refrained from taking revenge on his brothers) set an example for later society.    Even if his taking of the land and persons of Egypt were less than just, some progress takes longer…

   Last year we looked at this portion, Parashat VaYechi, from the point of view of Endings.

     Last week was  Parashat VaYigash 5783, Land vs. Public Health, and Tightening Belts.

     While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

     Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

     Let’s Do Better.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Parashat VaYigash 5783, Land vs. Public Health, and Tightening Belts

       In this week’s parashah, Vayigash, the 11th in the Torah and last of the secular year 2022 CE/ 12022 HE, Joseph ends freedom and begins the slide toward feudalism by taking ownership of almost all of the land in Egypt in exchange for releasing the stored grain to the very farmers who had planted and harvested it, but lacked storage space.  See why long term planning and access to basic survival and equal health care resources for everyone is essential to the democratic process?

   Last year we mentioned R. Hillel‘s comment on responsibility   .

     Last week, we looked at reverse engineering solutions to prevent famine, in Parashat Miketz 5783, Famine Prevention as Public Health, and More Dreams:

While there are many ways to help increasing empathy,  Language Learning as a Fourth Tool for Empathy Building is both fascinating and practical.

Empathy building is a crucial task, particularly in our contentious society today.  The task is tiring, and cannot be done all at once, but with careful planning, education, and greater cooperation between the generations, it can be done.

Let’s Do Better.

–

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan:Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem, Lupin, or La Casa De Papel/Money Heist Reviews,

Holistic College Algebra & GED/HiSET Night School Lesson Plans,

           or My Nonfiction  & Historical Fiction Serial Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading and sharing about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.