
Introduction
Welcome to my December 2021 Living Conditions and Health newsletter. You can find past newsletters with additional background materials, and different stories and initiatives on my website and in my LinkedIn articles or posts. Join me in identifying and coordinating initiatives that advance health, health equity and community and healthcare redesign.
Shannah’s Insights and Reflections
It is the season of predictions and I marvel at how so many organizations and individuals still seem inclined to make predictions after living through the unprecedented and unpredictable past 2 years. I will take my prior stand of stating my hopes for the coming year that could be within our collective capabilities.
- The pandemic becomes the needed wake up call for our country and the world to approach life and humanity as the fragile gift that it is.
- All people living in the US have access to resources and services that enable living conditions that are secure and circumstances in which they can have a “fair and equitably opportunity to live” (borrowed from the Tulsa article below).
- Our country’s commitment to health equity and the elimination of structural racism will be codified in laws and programs so that there is no going back.
- Healthcare access is recognized as a right and all healthcare providers are supported to enable needed equitable access.
- Politics return to civil discussions that make the rights and needs of all Americans the driving priority.
Sadly, or perhaps by necessity the Omicron variant has put us all back in the realm of uncertainty and inequity as many struggle to get tested, to get results, to avoid unknowingly infecting friends and family. The good news is it is proving to be milder for most people testing positive. The New York times reported US deaths have passed 800,000 and cases rose above 50 million. The impact of the pandemic continues to disproportionately affect people of color and underserved populations. The response to the pandemic is our daily reminder of how politics in many states are ignoring the stark realities of the pandemic. Let’s hope we see an improvement in 2022.
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