I have attended quite a few medical conferences over the
years where health professionals from states that are struggling to improve their
healthcare ratings remind the crowd that they may be bad, but Mississippi is
worse. They may be 48th
out of 50 on obesity levels, diabetes care, low birth weight; but they end
their speech with: “Thank God for Mississippi!”
These words draw a chuckle from the crowd because
Mississippi ranks last or ties for last on rating systems. United Health Foundation and The
Commonwealth Fund both place Mississippi as having the worst score on numerous
measures and Mississippi has held this position for over 10 years.
So I was very glad when Cheryl Hamill, RN MS Clinical
Outreach Coordinator from UMMC School of Nursing in Jackson, Mississippi
reached out to me. Dave DeBronkart
recommended me as a good choice of speaker for a potential keynote speech. The focus of this event would be
heath literacy. She thought my background and health mission focus would be a good
match for the needs of their mostly rural and very underserved population.
Now with most busy conference planners after this initial
outreach and securing my agreement to present, the planner would hand me off to
a subordinate. Cheryl is not like
most conference planners. She kept
me in the loop through two very informative planning conference calls with the
speaking team. She communicated
changes and new ideas through 177 emails in a six-month period. She friended me on Facebook and I began
to know her as regular person. She
joined twitter and began to tweet.
She was very organized and willing to try new things, which
is such an unusual combination.
Upon hearing my explanation of the importance of twitter in patient
advocacy and the power of using twitter hashtags in communication during a
conference, Cheryl decided to encourage all attendees to open twitter accounts
prior to the event and raffle several prizes only eligible to those who
“live-tweeted” the event. She even
helped organize a pre-event tweet chat focused on how to “live tweet” a
conference. I provided twitter
guidance online as well as through a 1(800) number Cheryl set up just to facilitate
tweeting.
Cheryl did not stop there. When I suggested we complete the
conference by hosting and “unconference” session, she wholeheartedly endorsed
the idea. So Bonnie Westra PhD, Associate
Professor University Of Minnesota and I would teach the concept of open space
to 89 unconference virgins in a little less than two hours.
That is what I call a brave conference planner.
On Monday June 17, 2013 we would meet just outside of
Jackson Mississippi and discuss health literacy in this state. Our day began with Libby Mahaffey, PhD,
saying opening remarks focusing on Cultural Awareness & Health Literacy...the
Journey Continues. Next we would hear from Deb Washington, PhD, RN, Director of
Diversity-Patient Care Services, Massachusetts General Hospital. Deb was an
amazing speaker. Her power point
deck had a crisp easy to read large font and she expounded on the difference
between the Democrat belief in system design and Republican philosophy of
individual responsibility within healthcare. She also showed us an advertisement from her Sky Mall
magazine that informed travelers how to pack a suitcase with a built in
compartment checklist for every need.
We need this kind of organization in healthcare, she told the crowd.
Next Tonya Moore, PhD, RN, Chief Learning Office, UMMC spoke
about Mississippi county health rankings and spoke in-depth about internet
access within the state. She would
soon introduce me and I would find out that she is the grand niece of Medgar
Evers. She mentioned my mission focus
of improving patients’ rights in relation to the history of civil rights. I was so very honored.
This was a special day for a keynote. This day was the fourth anniversary of
my late husband Fred Holliday’s death.
I could think of no better a crowd to share our personal story with on
such a day, for I was in a room of those who had suffered and they understood pain.
When Terry Davis, PhD, Professor LSU Health Science Center
began to speak she had the most amazing videos to share of patients with low
health literacy being interviewed.
One of the most poignant was of a young mother who did not know what a
milliliter measurement was when dosing her children with ibuprofen. We also heard an elderly lady tell us
she never bothered to read the warning labels. (On one of her bottles of medication she was advised not to
drive and she had driven to the appointment)
Then I began to paint “The View From the 50 Foot Patient.”
The title of this piece was based on a corporate phrase and
a B-movie title. I have been to
quite a few events where I hear the phrase “Let’s take the 50,000 foot view.” I
must admit I want to roll my eyes, because if you are taking this view you are
in a highflying jet and way out of sync with those of us living in the daily
grind of healthcare. I also felt a
kind of exploitation of the b-grade movie when we watched the videos of those
with poor health literacy. It made me think of the poor heroine of that film
when no one would believe her due to her past history of alcohol abuse. So our lovely patient kneels down
dressed only in a banner of drug warnings like some contestant in a pageant no
one ever wishes to enter.
Behind
her is a cloud of warning based upon the presentation of Melissa Stewart, DNP
Faculty of Our Lady of the Lake College.
She showed us her UPP (Understanding Personal Perception) to gauge a
patients understanding using the image metaphor of a range from a bright sunny
day to a deeply cloudy sky.
The second painting is based on the presentations of the
second day especially Jonathan Vangeest, PhD, Chair Department of Health Policy
and Mgt., Kent State University College of Public Health. This painting is called “Altar
Call."
![Altar Call](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sQRUzxc1zIIwNRA8T9Vi4ghp5Ez_3WDaUU5bx2N7rjxu75wyRJedz70gTvfpirQbQ1YP64EvLKIbB4nu_b_XBl1-SeTZqZkS_u1l_JPcKnXCE2u6gRzg_CcvXW1V2i=s0-d)
”
In this conference, unlike
may others, the conversation of faith in was concert with questions of health
and we benefited greatly from such dialog. We also heard the powerful story of Jonathan’s medical
history. He was a promising
student with an engineering bent when he was working in a workspace that all
equipment was being sealed with a toxic sealant. Due to his hours spent in such an environment Jonathan
suffered frontal lobe damage, which resulted in life long epilepsy. So within this painting a young
Jonathan stares out of a stained glass window with the supervisor wearing a gas
mask. Jonathan also spoke about
the marketing of McDonalds and how they used a friendly clown to convince children
to come and bring their parents to eat at McDonalds. So within the painting’s shadows I worked in an arched M and
the clown’s face.
To the left is
another M. It came from a
speaker’s story about a local public health group that wanted to reach out to
the “Mexican” population in their community. They built an entire health literacy program in
Spanish. When they went to the
community they realized the residents were Mayan not Mexican. I finished this painting quickly as I
need to help Bonnie host the unconference session.
The unconference session was marvelous with 9 different
individuals pitching sessions. I was able to host a session on how to crowd
fund in healthcare, introducing the attendees to the wonders of Medstartr and
HealthTechHatch. It was
great. Bonnie was a wonderful
facilitator making sure every session concluded when it should so the next
could begin.
But everyone in the
room learned it is not over until it is over. Then the raffles were won and I looked at the amazing reach
of the hashtag on Symplur. You can
see the analytics
here and the transcript
here.
The conference day finished and I thanked Cheryl for inviting me and I thanked God for
Mississippi, not as some trite phrase or laugh line within a speech to
inform. No, I thank God for
Mississippi. I thank God as Jesus
would. For in the parable of
healthcare Mississippi would be the tax collector, the poor widow, the leper
and Jesus saw the greatest hope with such as these.
The folks in Mississippi know what it feels to be the lowest
of the low and from there anything is possible. Thank God for Mississippi.