There’s always a story sitting right in front of you, just depends on what that is and how
your mind wanders once you open yourself to seeing, hearing, maybe even smelling
what’s going on around you. It’s called a mix of reporting and making shit up, and that
mix is of course, good shit, bad shit and all the shit in between.
So today I look up and I see a picture on my Frame TV of a lion and her cubs, mom lion
looking up into the sky reacting to some kind of sound or action, three little ones either
suckling, jumping away from mom or one climbing up on her shank and tail. This
reminds me of that mix of natural alertness, instinctual prowess and relaxed playfulness
that describes almost any cat, and we’ve heard a little about an amazing cat recently here
at the Writer’s Circle. Alert, playful and relaxed. Hmmmm? Where is that gonna take me?
I’ll start with “alert”; alert we be these days to so many things happening near and far.
Close to home it’s often buy local or what’s up with health care. I heard yesterday that a
health care columnist at the Free Press died last week after years of struggling with
chronic disease, pain and wide range of good and bad health care. Shawna was a gem,
courageous, super savvy and had a heart for others. She provided quite a critique
of health care in Manitoba so perhaps my being alert like the mother lion could take the
form of another letter to the Free Press after reading another columnist yesterday…here
goes.
Thanks to Niall Harney for another valuable perspective on improving health care.
People are central in the way we care for each other. I’d like to pose a further idea.
There’s apparently no end in sight to the use of the words “fix” and “fixing” in describing
health care in Manitoba, terms used prior to the NDP being elected and now present in
almost every excellent piece written about the current state of health care, either it’s
challenges or strategies for its betterment. I’d like to suggest that the word “fix” be
dropped, that terms like “fix"”; or “fixing"”; transition to realistic concepts like “improve” or
“transform” when we refer to what needs to happen in health care. There is no “fix”. This
term implies mechanical approaches and answers, perhaps more appropriately used
when referencing bike repair. In health care we’re dealing with humans and
communities of people, organizations working together to help either prevent or treat
injuries and disease. Fix is delusional, implies something that gets done, finished.
There’s plenty that needs improving, even transforming, always will be. There is no fix
because there’ll always be a mix of major challenges and incredible strengths in the
way medical staff work with people who need help in our communities. In fact, I’d argue
that good health and well-becoming are about far more than hospital and clinical
treatment. It’s a circle of care that includes family, community and knowledge
keepers/skills from western, Indigenous and many other cultures. It is a paradigm shift
to always consider this circle as we speak about and work together to improve health
care.
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