Poverty. Death. Illness. Repression. Injustice. These are the issues of global health. It is what we confront, among a laundry list of others, as a part of our daily work and as a part of our mission. Behind all of that is such beauty and joy and resilience…it is breathtaking at times! I remember being … Read More
I keep a running list of topics that I want to write about and reflect about for this blog. According to my plan, I was going to write about the book Lean In today. But, I didn’t want to. In light of the controversy circling about Facebook and Sheryl Sandburg, the author of Lean In, … Read More
social justice It seems we’ve all been thinking deeply about race and racism in the United States. My interest in public health stems from a desire to work towards equity and social justice. One of my favorite TEDTalks is by Mary Bassett: Why Your Doctor Should Care About Social Justice. Dr Bassett is the Health … Read More
Martin Luther King I “do” public health because of the social justice elements that underpin the work. During my time at the Community for Creative Non-Violence homeless shelter, I learned important lessons in fairness, right and wrong, and my role is in this movement as a white, privileged woman. I re-read Martin Luther King’s Letter … Read More
I am thrilled to announce that training materials for health care workers on the introduction of DTG for the treatment of HIV are now online! A global consortium makes up the The OPTIMIZE project. It’s members are improving treatment outcomes for people living with HIV. The Project aims to optimize ARV drugs and formulations and … Read More
Blink is Malcolm Gladwell’s second book. It was a provocative read in many ways. It comes down to a nutshell. Blink is about split-second decision making and how decisions made quickly are often just as sound if not more so than decisions made after great deliberation. Gladwell calls this “thin-slicing”. It’s why speed dating works. … Read More
Words are powerful. Non-violent communication We’ve all found ourselves in situations where we want to be heard. And we’ve all been in situations where we could have done a better job of listening. I worked with someone with whom communication was challenging, to say the least. I tried all sorts of strategies, I took courses, … Read More
I read it so you don’t have to. Pathologies of Power outlines what Partners In Health means when it talks about striving to create a “preferential option for the poor in healthcare.” In its origins, the concept was connected with the the liberation theology movement of the mid-20th century. The option for the poor was first … Read More