Thank you for writing about this. Obviously for those of us in the public health community we see the danger and how alarming this is. But given the situation what can we actually do about it?
It's a good (and hard) question. My take is that we have to keep showing up - being leaders - making sure that we are grounding the conversation, as much as we can, in evidence. I don't think there's an easy way out of this, but do know that doing nothing isn't the solution. It will take all of us - speaking up/showing up - on behalf of the communities we serve. Trust will come when people see the authenticity and consistency of our message. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I think the word authenticity is key here, and repeatedly showing up. Having the courage to take a stand is important, because it requires perseverance and being uncomfortable, both of which are skills that are not easy to develop.
Great post. Policy should be about people! My recent obsession has been digital health reform.
There’s a legacy system, and a growing “personalized health products” culture that don’t fit together. I think that digital infrastructure is the bridge we need, and ive been talking about specific reforms to the ONC Health IT certification program.
Telehealth, mental health services, and patient generated health data are especially central to this equation, and aligning incentives for IT developers to integrate new tools and alternative payment models is where we might start.
"Consider the recent measles outbreak in the U.S., the worst in 25 years, resulting in multiple deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations, primarily among unvaccinated children."
It's back here in Canada, as well, but I'm pretty sure you gave it to us via tourism...
Trump has so alienated himself from the intelligentsia that he cannot, apparently, find anyone to serve as Secretaries of the government departments of the U.S. who actually KNOW something about what they are getting involved in. Whereas, in Canadian politics, at least among left and centrist-leaning federal and provincial governments, an MP who knows the lay of the land about something well is going to almost automatically get that related position in the Cabinet. And at least this time we have a Prime Minister who also knows his salt...
Government by the uninformed is disaster; government by the informed, while not perfect, is far less likely to risk the health of its citizens.
Thank you for writing about this. Obviously for those of us in the public health community we see the danger and how alarming this is. But given the situation what can we actually do about it?
It's a good (and hard) question. My take is that we have to keep showing up - being leaders - making sure that we are grounding the conversation, as much as we can, in evidence. I don't think there's an easy way out of this, but do know that doing nothing isn't the solution. It will take all of us - speaking up/showing up - on behalf of the communities we serve. Trust will come when people see the authenticity and consistency of our message. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I think the word authenticity is key here, and repeatedly showing up. Having the courage to take a stand is important, because it requires perseverance and being uncomfortable, both of which are skills that are not easy to develop.
100 percent agree!
Great post. Policy should be about people! My recent obsession has been digital health reform.
There’s a legacy system, and a growing “personalized health products” culture that don’t fit together. I think that digital infrastructure is the bridge we need, and ive been talking about specific reforms to the ONC Health IT certification program.
Telehealth, mental health services, and patient generated health data are especially central to this equation, and aligning incentives for IT developers to integrate new tools and alternative payment models is where we might start.
"Consider the recent measles outbreak in the U.S., the worst in 25 years, resulting in multiple deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations, primarily among unvaccinated children."
It's back here in Canada, as well, but I'm pretty sure you gave it to us via tourism...
Trump has so alienated himself from the intelligentsia that he cannot, apparently, find anyone to serve as Secretaries of the government departments of the U.S. who actually KNOW something about what they are getting involved in. Whereas, in Canadian politics, at least among left and centrist-leaning federal and provincial governments, an MP who knows the lay of the land about something well is going to almost automatically get that related position in the Cabinet. And at least this time we have a Prime Minister who also knows his salt...
Government by the uninformed is disaster; government by the informed, while not perfect, is far less likely to risk the health of its citizens.