On Getting the Care We Need
Thoughts on our healthcare system and beyond
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Given my experiences with our healthcare system throughout my pregnancy and postpartum, I’ve been thinking a lot about our healthcare system.
The inefficiency of it. The lack of care received from it. The ineffective listening that seems to happen more often than not. The energy that can easily get wasted on the part of both patients and the providers themselves. The requirements expected from providers on behalf of the insurance companies.
It’s a little funny looking at it all as a psychotherapist, because I’m keenly aware of all the sides of the issue. I’m very aware of what goes on from a patient/client perspective both from my own personal experience and seeing clients’ experiences with it over the years. I’m also very aware of what goes on from a provider standpoint from my experiences of working at places that took insurance. And, I have to admit, it has been those experiences that have led me to never, ever want to take insurance in my private practice.
I’m also very aware of how ineffective communication between provider and patient can easily make things harder rather than better.
So here is my first (of likely many) attempts at trying to share some of my thoughts on this very big and complex issue.
I’ll start off by saying that I’m extremely angry at how I’ve been treated by healthcare providers over the last several months. Just as I have been extremely angry over the years whenever I see clients struggle to receive adequate care (whether that is with their mental health or physical health).
I’m angry and, at the same time, I completely empathize with providers because I’m extremely aware of how overworked providers are in this current system.
I’m extremely aware of the burnout due to the long hours.
I’m extremely aware of the seemingly endless expectations and demands.
I’m extremely aware of the abuse that providers have to endure from the insurance companies.
I’m extremely aware of how hard it is to have empathy, compassion, and patience when one is overworked.
It can be hard to meet people on a human to human level when the very system that you are working in is inhumane — to both your needs and to the needs of those you are trying to help.
I’m extremely aware of how the education and trainings given tend to be focused on how to work within this current system rather than meeting people where they are at so people can be helped in the best way possible.
And yet, I have to say: If someone tells a provider that they are experiencing, XYZ symptoms how is it at all helpful to ignore them and talk about ABC instead?
How are providers helping anyone if they are not taking their time to adequately assess a person’s symptoms before jumping to a “quick fix” solution?
How are providers helping anyone if they’re “solutions” are all about telling the patient to “do more” or to “take this pill” rather than to truly investigate the root of the issue?
How are providers helping the people they are meant to serve if the insurance companies needs matter more than the patients’ needs?
What’s the point of exerting so much time and energy if the outcomes don’t foster genuine health?
What’s the point of exerting so much time and energy if the root of the issue isn’t being identified, let alone resolved?
What’s the point of exerting so much time and energy when the root of the issue isn’t on neither you or the patient?
What’s the point of exerting so much time and energy if the patient’s needs are not being met?
What’s the point of exerting so much time and energy if the work you do is only creating more stress and struggle because you didn’t fully listen to the humans you’re supposed to be helping in the first place?
How is the treatment helping anyone if you’re not giving the patient options in their own treatment?
And most of all…
How on earth can healthcare cost so incredibly much when the value of the care provided is mediocre at best?
Of course, I do not say this to attack providers.
Trust me… I get it. I get it far too much because I’ve been there. To be a healthcare provider means that you are in a really tough position because you’ve been trained to please the “boss” and comply with their many expectations. Otherwise, you might lose your job or your license. You might lose getting to a place that you’ve worked so hard to get to.
But… when there’s so many workers burning out paired with so many patients not being adequately served (and this has become especially true since this pandemic), it’s worth asking… what’s the point of all this?
It doesn’t need to be this hard.
Providers can do good work and people can get the healthcare they truly need to thrive. It’s possible. We just can’t do it if we keep going about it in the same old way that we have been, because this current way is very clearly not working.
On that note, I have recently discovered that Gabor Mate, the author of the new book The Myth of Normal, is doing an online seminar on December 18th called A Plunge into the Myth of Normal: Meeting the Suffering of Healthcare Workers.
So if you or someone you know is a healthcare worker working in this broken system, this may be a great resource. Here is the info:
Instructors: Dr. Gabor Maté ; Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD
Cost: $108. Date: December 18. 9 to 3 pm Pacific
If you are already registered for this program, please access the RESOURCE PAGE here.
Description:
Dr. Gabor Maté, with Roshi Joan, is offering a powerful one-day plunge in an interactive program for those in the healthcare field who have faced profound challenges to their wellbeing as they work in fraught systems and under conditions that are unsustainable. Dr. Maté will work with participants in a direct interactive process to surface the underlying sources of suffering and, as well, the great potentialities that give rise to resilience. We suggest you read his new book, The Myth of Normal, where Dr. Maté surfaces how Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems are, in fact, responsible for the immense pressure on health care workers, which for many has become crushing. In addition to direct work with participants, Dr. Maté will explore brain science, stress, and addiction in relation to the suffering that healthcare workers encounter. Joining Dr. Maté will be Roshi Joan Halifax, a pioneer in the end-of-life care field, who will share her work on the Edge States and moral suffering. This program is specifically for those in the healthcare field, including doctors, nurses, chaplains, psychologists, social workers, and health care administrators.Suggested Reading:
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor MatéSchedule:
This online program takes place on Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. US Mountain Standard Time (US MST) and concludes at 4:00 p.m. We are so grateful that Dr. Maté is enthusiastic to do this program online. At Upaya, we are deeply committed to serving you responsibly and with great care.