tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82344479252216385982024-02-08T04:53:37.075-05:00Christine Kraft's Blog Where I write about people and progress at the intersection of health, culture, spirit, soul and the marketplace.Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.comBlogger178125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-72113332249272386142018-07-09T21:07:00.001-04:002018-07-09T21:24:01.119-04:00Platforms of compassion ... Who cares?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I still do. Even after this long hiatus sharing my POV.<br />
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With industry and legislative groups promoting patient stories as testimony for products they pitch, there is also a growing need to extend equity for patient participants in the industry.<br />
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The experiential skill sets patients provide make a meaningful difference in the quality of understanding patients feel when journeying through health challenges. They may not be measurable in bio terms, but comfort and care is a legit path through tough diseases and suffering.<br />
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<b>It is out of date and unethical to leverage the suffering of patients and their stories without changing underlying business models obstructing transformation in the health space. </b><br />
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<b>In other words, a patient's experience is not marketing or policy. It is complementary medicine in and of itself. Peer to peer sharing is a modality that, like clean air and water, should be a public utility for all. </b><br />
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We've entered the third decade of online health information and are still 'splaining the benefits of narrative coherence, of health rights of passage, of the value of old fashioned community.<br />
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Health search tools once open and transparent are now driven entirely by ad markets and money words derived from the top 100 most popular health searches online. Our health is literally at auction.<br />
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Why do I know this? I was part of teams that built products to leverage and dovetail search traffic because that's where the metrics, the pageviews, the money was. The goal was to surface independent POVs by weaving them into high value search terms that were "actionable" and relevant.<br />
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But sometimes it's cancer as clickbait online.<br />
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And while there is increasing pressure to reduce health spending across populations, the market continues to push decentralized health care delivery systems. Reaching deeper into community markets, there remains a persistent pressure for hospitals to continue to fill beds, keep hospitals open and functioning as is.<br />
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Patients, Providers and Insurers still push for relevance and yet the status quo persists. It's a beautiful Back Eddy of tidal forces in America's market-driven healthcare.<br />
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But we end users of digital health innovation are often left downstream as products promoting transactional ease release into the system.<br />
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With each upgrade it may feel as though one's own most private sense of health and welfare has been tweaked without our conscious opting in. We are outraged to be left out while the same old conversations are recycled with lip-service to our needs.<br />
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Podcasts riffing on good ideas and innovation labs are not equitable health delivery systems; we need business model changes.<br />
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Perhaps you, like me, find yourself in perennial shock-absorber mode;<i> asked to adapt to new releases with steep learning curves precisely in moments of crisis ...</i><br />
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As we await the Supreme Court nominee any moment this evening, let us be humble and respect the complexity of human life. There is no longer a barrier to believing that life is precious AND it demands great resources. Let's build an equitable platform of compassion; one that honors choice and necessity; universal freedom and local challenges. Give children the right to life AND provide them health care, education, food security, and freedom from gun violence.<br />
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All life is valid. All of it.<br />
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A tolerant approach to the majesty of diversity looks a lot like the kind of love we learn about in the world's great religions. </div>
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Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-61642973273571652742015-04-27T23:45:00.002-04:002015-05-19T16:40:53.177-04:00Nurse logs as nature's innovatorsI used to refer to my daily outings in the woods as walking the dogs or as getting exercise. A couple of years ago I realized that my walks in the woods were really about me finding ways to regularly access the extraordinary wisdom of nature.<br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Every walk in the woods is a first. It does not matter how many hundreds of times I've covered the identical terrain or the same old path; the opportunity to experience the brand new unfolds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">And yet, as I spot newly carved spaces and contours along familiar tracks I am mindful that
nature's path through change shows no anxiety, no fretting. The forest is alive and dying in
the same moment. It is light and dark and whole in its non-duality. </span><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">Lovely is the only way to describe the sweet comfort of nature's divine reliability.</span></b></i></h3>
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">It's in the woods that even negative sentiments invite a positive re-framing. </span></b></i></h3>
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I mention the epic beauty of the nurse log in the post title because lately I am fascinated with the pageantry of lifeforms thriving atop of nurse logs I spot along woodland edges.<br />
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The nurse log plays dead when in fact she is facilitating the emergence of delicate and determined lifeforms. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RMgX7gKG0oQ/VT5zTnyJT_I/AAAAAAAABOE/wV8QalJoWCo/s1600/photo-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RMgX7gKG0oQ/VT5zTnyJT_I/AAAAAAAABOE/wV8QalJoWCo/s1600/photo-2.JPG" width="240" /></a><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange;"><i><b>The paradox of the nurse log is her stillness; it is in stillness that she activates her ultimate reinvention.</b></i> </span></span> </b></h3>
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I am not convinced that a nurse log's capacity to facilitate wildly different life forms is an inevitability of biology. It seems more an act of consciousness with a corresponding one-of-a-kind outcome. <br />
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">Consider her a healing symphony; the song dormant within all of us</span></b></i><span style="color: orange;"><i> </i></span><i><b><span style="color: orange;">life forms.</span></b></i></h3>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oydw2qEtIEc/VTryumEm9KI/AAAAAAAABMk/k4mfEbI94F0/s1600/DrSeuss3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oydw2qEtIEc/VTryumEm9KI/AAAAAAAABMk/k4mfEbI94F0/s1600/DrSeuss3.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>Long before going green was fashionable and we understood the social determinants of health, he gave voice to big ideas in such tales as The Lorax and The Sneetches.<br />
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Today, in the supermarket discount bin, I discovered yet another sweet classic Seuss tale: The Shape of Me and Other Stuff. It's a book celebrating the differences between forms; human, inanimate and otherwise.<br />
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I wish it were longer... With just eleven stiff board book pages to turn, one can hardly scratch the surface of body image narrative diversity. And yet, in the single illustration to the left, one can notice how Dr. Seuss subtly subverts boy-girl pairs.<br />
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Dr. Seuss stood for the truth and that is why he could say, <span style="color: orange;"></span> </blockquote>
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That is why he ends his book elated, saying:</blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: orange;"> Hooray for the shapes we're in! ...</span></i></h3>
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<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-17614294425295391402015-04-20T13:43:00.001-04:002015-12-02T20:54:36.895-05:00A simple story about shifting work and family balance<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a0HFCX5MUCw/VTU2xC8QRLI/AAAAAAAABME/HLTM01aECb8/s1600/IMG_8846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a0HFCX5MUCw/VTU2xC8QRLI/AAAAAAAABME/HLTM01aECb8/s1600/IMG_8846.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
I was cruising along with a singular focus on my professional
development when BOOM my soul reminded me to pay attention to a deeper idea. I heard:<br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;">Wake up, lady! This year isn't JUST about professional development. </span></i> </h3>
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<i><span style="color: orange;">You've embarked on a Master Class in Heart Awakening too. </span></i></h3>
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What? A Master Class in Heart Awakening? <br />
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Haven't I been caregiving with compassionate focus? Haven't I made strides as a mother, as a friend, and as a humble soul making its way on the planet? I really hate to appear overconfident, I argued in my head, but since I just earned Professional Health Coaching credentials from <a href="http://www.dukeintegrativemedicine.org/" target="_blank">Duke Integrative Medicine</a>, I really want to capture the momentum and get to work. But now you're saying that it's Master Class time? Sheesh.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><i>Hold on now. You will take the next steps with ease. In fact, we envision great adventures and a wonderful health coaching career for you, given your capacity for compassion and healing. But advancing to your fullest expression will still require you to embody what we call, "self-fullness".</i></span> </h3>
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Oh good, I thought, at least I don't have to stop this momentum!<br />
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Then I asked about self-fullness. Is it similar to #gratitude?<span style="color: orange;"><i> </i></span><br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;">No, it is not gratitude. It is about acceptance and taking steps towards big goals without striving.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="color: orange;">Self-fullness is a state of being; a state that energizes and activates a rewarding professional life while also protecting you during challenging times. Do you understand?</span></i> </h3>
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Yes, so I kept listening: <br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><i><b>We think you have the courage and influence to make a difference supporting the lives of others but we want you to start by giving yourself much more support. Unconditional support. </b></i></span></h3>
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How?<br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;">You must learn to make commitments from your heart, health and soul, not from your head.</span></i></h3>
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That made sense to me since my head is often ahead of my heart. What's the first step?<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">We want you to practice saying No to people you care about when saying Yes hurts your heart, health and soul. It's simple but it is not easy for most women. Especially women like you. </span></b></i></h3>
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You mean it isn't easy for women like me to disappoint people? And that we often say yes when we mean no? Guilty. But won't it be selfish to practice saying No to people I care about? <br />
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">A long time ago when we valued groups over individuals we viewed a No from a woman as selfish or as some kind of violation of the social order. Now we know better.</span></b></i></h3>
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">We understand and teach that it is only a woman who is self-full that is able to contribute to the health of a group (a marriage, a family, a community, a nation, planet, etc.). </span></b></i></h3>
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That sounded true to me so I kept listening: <br />
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">Self-fullness is not selfish, it</span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: orange;"> leads to a greater awareness that all of life is precious and worthy: yours, others', the world's.</span></b></i></h3>
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<span style="color: orange;"><i>Self-fullness is that quiet, subtle shift in energy; a stance with roots underneath that support and grow the blooms up above. </i></span> </h3>
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<span style="color: orange;"><i>. . . As you learn how to experience self-fullness you will be growing the muscle of compassion and the strength of a rooted soul. </i></span></h3>
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And that's when I realized that this Master Class in Heart Awakening was going to be both exciting and highly challenging at times. There would be a need to stay connected to gifted teachers and friends as I worked through professional goals with an open heart. This gentle reminder brought a lovely sensation of alignment and I realized with an Aha! that I had been preparing to be invited into this master class my whole life. I knew that there would be no turning back, so I exhaled then heard the teacher say:<br />
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<i><b><span style="color: orange;">Well done with the first lesson ... now for Lesson Two. </span></b></i></h3>
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Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-38786246109681167272015-02-07T07:30:00.000-05:002015-04-28T10:21:17.458-04:00Mindfulness and a skin biopsyHave you noticed how your own emotional reality creates ease or obstacles when a health concern comes up for you?<br />
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I am learning about this topic first hand, again, even and in spite of years of mindfulness practice and a thorough knowledge of "the benefits" of early intervention. I am riding a learning edge related to how the emotions of vulnerability and surrender can help healing. Here's the story:<br />
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In late November I spotted a reddish dot on the side of my nose. It was ugly but painless and flat. It concerned me only when I noticed it growing gradually. At first I attributed this red dot to wearing glasses all day long. As my concern upticked -- and I felt that I should call for an appointment -- I noticed how easy it was for me to keep NOT calling.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_eKIsThINCA/VNTgyyv0CjI/AAAAAAAABIs/zxZH39j_S-4/s1600/IMG_8067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_eKIsThINCA/VNTgyyv0CjI/AAAAAAAABIs/zxZH39j_S-4/s1600/IMG_8067.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selfie with skin spots and biopsy, February 2015</td></tr>
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<i><span style="color: orange;">Somehow, I felt safer protecting my not-knowing than opening up to a new-knowing; the newness of illness.</span></i></h3>
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This internal process carried on mostly sub-consciously for six weeks or so. Whenever concern about the dot showed up, I drew on thoughts and stories (or actual cover-up!), telling myself: <br />
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<li>I have a ruddy complexion full of freckles, flushing and other fun stuff so there was nothing to worry about (FALSE);</li>
<li>That indoor-outdoor temperature changes of the cold winter were causing capillaries to expand and contract and making the dot more pronounced (FALSE); and</li>
<li>That as I aged and hormones shifted, it was natural to expect skin changes like a growing red dot (FALSE).</li>
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Finally, I called the dermatologist. She is popular so I expected a 3-week wait for the appointment. Instead, as a sign of Divine Right Timing, the receptionist said she had just received a cancellation for the same week. My heart sank right then, however; I was so scared to learn more about the red dot that I secretly planned to have the whole three weeks to build up my courage! I joked then shared my fear about coming in with the receptionist who said she understood. She hurried to confirm I would take the appointment, blessed woman. I've since thanked her for that push...<br />
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I showed up for the appointment feeling nervous. Just fifteen minutes later, reassured that the spot on my face was not a concern to the doctor, she was lazering my red dot ("<span class="st">hemangioma") with my eyes protected tightly. Now the growing red dot is a much larger dark spot (visible in the selfie below) but it is not an energized problem for me. The spot will fade.</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;"><span class="st">Next came the stinging-cool sensation of Cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen), freezing off </span>seven other spots on my sailor's face. </span></i> </h3>
These spots are now blistering or peeling in relation to how heavy the treatment was.<br />
(You can see one spot on the selfie above, the others are hidden.) <br />
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Lastly, I showed the doctor another mark I had noticed on my upper right chest (where the band-aid now is). No sooner did she glance at the spot than she had injected a numbing agent into the area and got right to work biopsying. What was of no concern to me really, is now the subject of a biopsy. My self-care flipped; I thought it was dermatitis or eczema from a new favorite scent.<br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;">A few days of perspective have allowed me to start healing these spots and prepare myself for whatever comes next.</span></i> </h3>
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Would it be corny to report that I am already comforted to have received a great teaching: that fear is mastered by surrender, not courage? I have seen this unfold for me and I feel lucky for that. <br />
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Had I waited for courage to come -- to will it up using the unskilled mind -- prior to advancing into the real walk inside of the fear of skin cancer, I could still be stuck preparing ... perhaps hosting a cancer to boot. <br />
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<i><span style="color: orange;">I am aware that I have experienced some fresh healing, even while waiting to receive the results of the biopsy. </span></i></h3>
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I have learned how healing energy is the gift of humility and surrender, the gift of Beginner's Mind and Non Striving. I have known this through work with friends I love, but to know and understand it in myself is a great gift of health. I feel good, even with the uncertainty and the spotted face. I have received some help already and I am grateful.Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-43251546786512181622014-12-17T22:07:00.001-05:002014-12-18T15:14:47.092-05:00Chapters of the Heart: Torah study with Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chapters-Heart-Jewish-Women-Sharing/dp/1620320134" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Chapters-Heart-Jewish-Women-Sharing/dp/1620320134" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6WlCPqNxR8A/VJJASqp1UOI/AAAAAAAABHI/QMjf7vd1npM/s1600/chapters%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bheart.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a><br />
Today marked a special day of celebration and a bittersweet ending to a Wednesday morning ritual I'll remember fondly: Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell's Torah study at Washington Hebrew Congregation.<br />
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If you are wondering how I got to Torah study at temple ... I admit I am too. But like every kind of heart journey I've taken, one thing led to another and to the temple I traveled. I am a very lucky soul to travel this way so often.<br />
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By way of a brief intro, Rabbi Elwell is <a href="http://www.whctemple.org/" target="_blank">Washington Hebrew Congregation's</a> Scholar-in-Residence. She led a Wednesday Morning Torah study using her wonderful book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chapters-Heart-Jewish-Women-Sharing/dp/1620320134" target="_blank">Chapters of the Heart: Jewish Women Sharing the Torah of Our Lives</a>.<br />
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The book, which Rabbi Elwell co-edited with Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer is fascinating. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in women's stories. According to Rabbi Elwell:<br />
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<i>For much of history, women’s histories were not recorded, but women’s
stories were still being told. They may not have been the conversations
of record, but women have always been sharing their stories with each
other and with their children. So this is not new. What is new is the
number of women with access to the study of classical Jewish texts. We
represent the first generation of women who can easily acquire the
necessary tools. So our book is composed of stories, but stories
inflected with a sophisticated understanding of foundational Jewish
texts. (<a href="http://chaptersoftheheart.com/blog" target="_blank">Read the full post here</a>)</i></blockquote>
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My friend Amy, a member of Washington Hebrew Congregation, was my link to the class. Although I was a bit nervous entering the group, I had read several chapters of the text prior to my first meeting and was excited to be part of the discussion. Even as a non-Jewish woman, I quickly resonated with the narratives and questions the text put forth. How can we overcome grief and loss? How can we become the mothers we yearn to be? What are the prayers and ancient stories of healing power that are most helpful during deep challenges? I admired the creativity and honesty the stories portrayed.<br />
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Most women reading <i>Chapters of the Heart</i> will feel at home in the stories, regardless of faith and tradition. But if you had asked me ten years ago -- make that just one year ago -- whether I would enter a temple to study sacred texts with a Rabbi and a group of Jewish strangers, I would have assured you that it would be highly unlikely. I hadn't been called or made curious yet. But being a seeker, I am forever opening up to learning, whenever the season comes. What I didn't expect is to takeaway a curiosity to keep learning more. ... We shall see.<br />
<br />
So, thank you Amy and Rabbi Elwell. The warmth and intelligence of the group, the stories, the teachings are forever mapped into my heart. I hope our paths for peace and justice in the world cross again soon, at temple and beyond.Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-62008628931958527942014-12-11T07:55:00.003-05:002014-12-11T16:30:08.505-05:00The Arena of Beautiful: Publish, speak and reflect a more loving image of women in 2015<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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When Elizabeth Lauten criticized President Obama's daughters, my heart broke for women.<br />
<br />
Again.<br />
<br />
As the harsh story played out in November, I buffered, diffused, tried to accept, forgive, and -- most of all -- tried not to add suffering to the situation with gossip and mindless chatter.<br />
<br />
By day three of abstaining, what I understood clearly is the extent to which the story was about me (and you), not just Ms. Laurent and the young Obama ladies. The latter were just the latest casualties in the<mostly> arena of women bashing women.</mostly><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">Enter the ring </span></h3>
What are your stories from the arena of bashing?<br />
<br />
Did you pass through the arena in your youth or are you still playing there? Were you hurt or were you more the one doing the injuring? <br />
<br />
Were there bosses, mentors, mothers, sisters, friends, strangers fighting you in the arena? How bad did it feel? Was your skirt short or too long? <br />
<br />
There's a narrow zone for peace and calm inside this arena.<br />
<br />
Were you someone who injured or were you hurt by another women in power? If you did the injuring, be honest and tell us how it worked out? Did you cause enough pain to get her out of your way? Or did she ultimately recover and move into her power anyway?<br />
<br />
And to the spectator in the bleachers of the arena -- too removed from the action to believe that you yourself have any power to stop the blows -- what are you thinking from way up high? Quite a good show, isn't it?<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">Heart, soul and consciousness</span></h3>
This is a complex arena and hard to cover in a blog. My sense is that we are all in the arena, until we consciously remove ourselves from it. We are all connected to the Laurent event and the suffering it caused. Take a spin through the rings of suffering she set in motion:<br />
<ul>
<li>The shame triggered in the young ladies, followed closely by the outrage and secondary defense reactions of family and public officials;</li>
<li>The shame Ms. Laurent felt for her injuring, followed by the fear and anxiety she experienced in her grand tumble down the backlash; </li>
<li>The cold hearted eagerness of the media syndicating the story across channels with dispatch, on deadline, and without a note of tenderness;</li>
<li>Then touch the energy of the millions of networked <b><i>bystanders</i></b> ingesting and metabolizing the details again and again, adding personal projections, prophecies, and pebbles to the signals hitting we women and our daughters. </li>
</ul>
On some level, this suffering is so totally socially acceptable it is nearly invisible to us. We don't see it as our problem. Rather, many of us have a "What's the big deal?" reaction when someone behaves badly. We gawk and then move on.<br />
<br />
But that's the role of the bystander, the most fascinating character in the story. It's also the seat of power in a social network.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">Bystanders </span></h3>
Who are the bystanders? Am I a bystander if I don't say anything about the conflict? Or am I a bystander because I don't say anything?<br />
<br />
And, more importantly, what is the call to bystanders to help heal the nasty dynamic between women?<br />
<br />
Are we bystanders awake enough to help? To bother shifting our consciousness? Or is this right of passage better defaulted to another woman in America? A younger one? An older one? A more powerful, successful woman? Someone with more time. <br />
<br />
The notion that we are all bystanders hits me hard ...<br />
<br />
It is like crashing into an awareness of just how vast and connected the ecosystem of women's consciousness is and that it is time for me to clarify and cleanse my own tolerance for female bashing.<br />
<br />
Why are we squandering a wonderful natural resource with infighting and violence against one another? Celebrities, Politicians, Authority figures; it's everywhere today.<br />
<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">Healing the closed heart</span></h3>
To dismiss another woman's
choices mercilessly and without compassion, limits one's own life and
closes one's heart another notch. This is true across the lifestages.
We need young pretty energy and risk taking just as much as we need the
power of grandmothers. <br />
<br />
But a closed heart is so
tempting, many of us believe it is worth fighting for. I mean that a
closed heart can help us feel safe by giving life more predictability,
something many of us desperately desire.<br />
<br />
In order to
heal, the closed heart has to open. The open hearted way is guaranteed
to bring vulnerability and rawness inside. It will rock your world with
unpredictability and, ultimately, a sense of aliveness too. But it is a
true crossing to get there. (See <a href="http://brenebrown.com/" target="_blank">Brene Brown's amazing work</a> if you want a deep dive in those lessons.) <br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">A spiritual approach to loving other women</span></h3>
Observed from a spiritual perspective, the Laurent event reveals a call full of hunger and longing: hunger for a bigger role, a wider circle; hunger for community and hunger for more permanent contributions to the world. These are universal longings that just need a better channel. <br />
<br />
Instead of attempts to shrink the young ladies she could learn how to seek authentic power by using a more mindful approach. She could start by noticing herself reacting viciously and tune in to inquire. She could slow down and ask herself spiritual reflections such as: <br />
<br />
I am noticing her. What is it that I see in her? Why am I drawn to it? Can I name it? Do I have that trait too? Why? Why not? How are we alike? How are we different? How is this inquiry making me feel? What else am I noticing?<br />
<br />
Then the inquiry can move into a richer place. She could learn to consider her reflections then query herself with:<br />
<br />
Can I love her? Is she worthy? Am I worthy too?<br />
<br />
The answer is always and forever, YES.<br />
<br />
This is the path to compassion and power, the path to The Arena of the Beautiful. <br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">Flipping the switch, updating the social code</span></h3>
This event gives all of us an invitation to curb our unconscious bystanding of women bashing women. It is an invitation to <a href="http://www.taramohr.com/" target="_blank">Play Big, as Tara Mohr encourages in her work and her writing. </a><br />
<br />
My experience is that the most powerful pain and shame triggers are transmitted woman to woman. Because women hold so much of the social code, updating this out-of-date algorithm makes sense.<br />
<br />
We will only do it by updating our consciousness and raising our vibration. <br />
<br />
Why continue to watch and wait on ideas that keep women isolated and separated instead of together and collaborating -- or even better, dancing? <i>Flip the switch to Conscious.</i><br />
<br />
<h3>
<span style="color: orange;">Publish, speak and reflect a more loving image of women in 2015 </span></h3>
I get dinged for being too sensitive, too contemplative ... it's part of my wiring and I let it out in my writing. To push myself to put skin in this game, I commit to hitting the publish button on this post as an active step to publish, speak and reflect a more loving image of women in 2015. (I have been keeping the post in draft mode for more than a week!): <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: orange;"><i>In fact, I have more than 50 draft posts I am too chicken to post so hitting PUBLISH is a big step into THE ARENA of Beautiful for me.</i></span> </blockquote>
Further, I promise that in 2015 I will seek out -- thoughtfully -- ways to celebrate and acknowledge the variety of great women in my midst. This is one way I will deepen my practice of acceptance. <br />
<br />
When another woman says something that makes me feel disparaged or ashamed about how I look or how I am dressed or how I behaved, I'll do my best to mention it to her. To keep it real and find out what the trouble was.<br />
<br />
AND, I'll notice when she is disparaging herself so that I may step in for the Divine. I'll stick up for her and invite her into The Arena of Beautiful where there is plenty of room and lots of networking opportunities. Join us?<br />
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-81538651989004480182013-11-07T15:21:00.001-05:002016-04-07T18:50:30.276-04:00The Myth of the Professionalized Patient<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A sneaky business narrative has wound its way into health innovation. It's stolen the spotlight; taken our attention away from complex problems and made us fall in love with its futuristic approach. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3YyqFLAag9k/Unv15RfY0TI/AAAAAAAAA88/nIKpz7t_E1I/s1600/Sol+Le+Witt+-+Wall+Drawing+999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3YyqFLAag9k/Unv15RfY0TI/AAAAAAAAA88/nIKpz7t_E1I/s400/Sol+Le+Witt+-+Wall+Drawing+999.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sol LeWitt - Wall Drawing 999 (Mass MoCA)</td></tr>
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</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">I'm naming this sneaky little narrative.</span></b> I'm calling it The Myth of the Professionalized Patient. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A myth is powerful and sells transformation. A myth is always at the heart of any product we desire. That's precisely why the
Myth of the Professionalized Patient is such a powerful one for industry and
for government interests.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>What traits does the Professionalized Patient possess? </b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An archetype consumer, a master of health, the professionalized patient:</span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Demonstrates a sublime use of administrative tools</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gracefully tracks key data while complying with doctors orders (dispensed online in real time) </span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is a
model patient; he doesn't mind reading fine print online</span></span> </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is highly literate and can negotiate the complexity of health care products and systems for self and others</span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Effortlessly adapts to (some say thrives on) change </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You get the picture... </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: orange;"><b>What's missing from this myth? </b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We covet a clean, state-of-the art health system, but cold, clean, technical care is just one of many healing modalities appropriate to our system today. It isn't the only one within reach. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And yet now all all swept up into a tidal surge to become professionalized patients; expected to handle our burdens with dispatch and optimism, atop the desktop or mobile device. <span style="color: orange;"> <b>No crying, no hugging, no eye contact allowed.</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Commentary aside, I believe that the Myth of the Professionalized Patient is accelerating us unconsciously toward adoption of a system that does not look out for our interests. <b><span style="color: orange;">We won't even know what hit us when we wake up</span>.</b> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will patient engagement metrics (page views per month, number of e-mail messages sent, lab reports viewed online, etc.) be misconstrued and marketed as evidence encouraging the growth of online channels? </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With this will there come a potential to swiftly promote expansion of the electronic nurse-caregiver persona ... before we even meet her?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What about the big picture? Do you find it alarming that the the more
responsibility industry and
government places on individuals to act like Professionalized Patients - to
achieve desired health measures - the less
responsibility these sectors will have for legitimately uprooting the
social determinants of health that trap many of us at some point in our
lives?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pay attention. Since we are a fee
for service system, the more these sectors are positioned to fine and/or penalize consumers for coming up short and not measuring up to the
archetypal professionalized patient, their authority over us grows. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The story around the Professionalized Patient is bound to get more traction. <span style="color: orange;"><b>It is futuristic, sexy and efficient.</b></span> Who wouldn't want to <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">believe</span>? <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yet</span> human
fallibility<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">trumps tech efficiency.</span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Humans in the raw are not sexy. </span></b>We age and don't like change. We don't tell the truth, get sick and then have a hard time following doctor's orders. We're busy and think we're right. We are distracted and want to feel better, have a good time and not work too hard. It's not a selling story, really. It's just the story of health in 2013. </span></span><br />
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-59185674397346706572013-05-31T13:44:00.000-04:002013-06-01T11:26:19.472-04:00Making STEM education tasty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5TIq0okshQ/UajfMfQac7I/AAAAAAAAA4k/VyQi6e3Jp2M/s1600/stem.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="85" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w5TIq0okshQ/UajfMfQac7I/AAAAAAAAA4k/VyQi6e3Jp2M/s320/stem.png" width="320" /></a></div>
STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) is being promoted as the cure for what ails American education and economic growth. A parallel trend sweeping across our counties and cities is a push toward wellness and health activation, especially around movement and diet for overweight and obese children as young as preschool.<br />
<br />
While these two distinct health programming trends are positive, I'd like to see the two campaigns commit to working together in service to the nation's children. What power is there in science, technology, engineering and math alone? Without a healthy food system and ample consumer savvy for kids to steward their bodies and minds appropriately, we cannot advance the health, wealth and consciousness of our nation. We will continue to invent outside of authentic social contexts, short-cutting some of the more challenging structural problems families face when trying to eat healthy while putting more pressure on children to do so on their own (while advancing their tech degrees).<br />
<br />
How to adjust the current imbalance and inject the food context into the campaign to promote STEM education? I am not sure, but one super simple idea that keeps hitting me over the head is this: what if we consider adding the letter E for "Eating" to the STEM acronym? Could such a simple addition add STEEM to the health of our future world leaders? <br />
<br />
Sounds silly? Could be. But the idea that food and eating are captured in the existing STEM movement is misguided. Just Google the term STEM and check out the images that come up. Or, have a conversation with a middle school-age girl and she and her peers might admit that it is much, much easier to excel in Math class than in self-care and nutrition, especially when much of a day is spent sitting and both parents work full time.<br />
<br />
When we unite hard and soft science in a national promotion of science, technology, engineering, EATING and math, we re-frame the essential benefit of STEM disciplines. We give the conversation context and ... flavor. The results could even be delicious. Here's why:<br />
<br />
Envisioning the future requires a somewhat clear out-picturing of a social idea. The existing STEM narrative is missing a key social idea: food and table culture. My opinion as a mother and as a cook is that kids need more time at the table united by good food and restorative social connections. They need their minds and their bellies fed with a better story than just Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. They need a North Star that tells the American Tale in a fresh new way. That excites them, that entices them to carry forth, to invent, and to honor the earth and themselves as living things in the process. Eating should be an explicit part of the new American narrative ...<br />
<br />
So, if STEEM isn't the right acronym, pick another one -- or another way to emphasize what we're losing when we don't actively promote eating healthy to our children in the race to advance the sciences.<br />
<br />
In other words, if a five-letter acronym feels exponentially more unwieldy than a four-letter acronym, remember that the Pentagon's strength comes from five modalities. Whatever we call it, let's put eating into the strategy so that we may remove it from crisis-management mode. Because we won't win the "war on obesity" ... but we can teach healthy eating that is pleasurable while leading the next generation into a more equitable nutritional landscape. Kids can and do learn to respect their bodies and minds when we teach them how.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, one of the top goals of STEM will be to dismantle -- not reinforce -- the current disconnect between the chem lab and the kitchen. With eating integrated into the STEM framework, my hope is that resulting solutions will have much greater appeal.<br />
<br />
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-72166517646633192482013-02-14T09:46:00.001-05:002013-02-14T11:42:47.280-05:00Sketchnotes meet health innovation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_E5-_8vytw/URzztr65ZPI/AAAAAAAAA1k/3FOQOi7BPFE/s1600/Love+Needs+A+Billing+Code+Sketchnotes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Love needs a billing code graphic sketchnote" border="0" height="408" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_E5-_8vytw/URzztr65ZPI/AAAAAAAAA1k/3FOQOi7BPFE/s640/Love+Needs+A+Billing+Code+Sketchnotes.jpg" title="Love needs a billing code graphic" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thanks to <a href="http://www.thegraphicrecorder.com/" target="_blank">Doug Neill</a> for this fun sketchnote of<i> </i>my January 15th post. (You know, the one that starts with:</span><a href="http://cocovillage.blogspot.com/2013/01/love-needs-billing-code.html" target=""><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> It's the simplest of ideas in health innovation: Give love a billing code.)</span></span></span></a><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Happy Valentine's Day!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span> Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-84658115600362991872013-01-31T13:56:00.005-05:002013-01-31T16:33:28.020-05:00Krista Tippett's On Being Challenge Last week on American Public Radio's <i><a href="http://www.onbeing.org/" target="_blank">On Being</a></i>, Krista Tippett closed her <a href="http://www.onbeing.org/program/seth-godin-on-the-art-of-noticing-and-then-creating/5000" target="_blank">interview with Seth Godin </a>with an experiment. She asked her listeners to spread the word about her show to help grow her audience. <br />
<br />
I'm willing to serve as an anonymous node in Tippett's online network this one time because I've been listening to <i>On Being</i> broadcasts for years and can vouch for the quality. Tippett, along with the show's producers and editors, covers topics in depth and with sensitivity. She pushes me to examine my beliefs -- spiritual and otherwise -- in an engaging way.<br />
<br />
It's said that the measure of engagement in a site/show is related to a viewer/listener's next steps. In other words, after one visits a site, was one engaged enough to take a next step? To follow along? In health we call that activation.<br />
<br />
After many <i>On Being</i> shows, I notice myself taking that next step. I either purchase a book, check out a site or an idea online, refer others to the idea I was introduced to on the show, or in some very extreme cases, spend a half hour penning a blog post to help grow audience. ...<br />
<br />
I consider Krista Tippett an independent influencer and I wouldn't want her style to get too commercial. But a bigger audience for her show would be a good thing for the radio ecosystem, a system that is often subject to pro-growth metrics instead of more meaningful measures of engagement or "next steps" her audience members take when the show is over. <br />
<br />
On Being is uniquely positioned between big ideas and quiet conversations. If you are interested in the next wave of thoughtful, contemplative communications, listen in. <span class="field-content">Recent broadcasts include: </span><br />
<br />
<span class="field-content"><a href="http://www.onbeing.org/blog/encountering-grief-guided-meditation/4983">Encountering Grief: A 10-Minute Guided Meditation with Joan Halifax</a></span><br />
<span class="field-content"><a href="http://www.onbeing.org/program/words-shimmer/246">Elizabeth Alexander on Words That Shimmer</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.onbeing.org/program/brene-brown-on-vulnerability/4928" target="_blank">Brene Brown on Vulnerability</a><br />
<br />
Oh, and don't miss scanning the blog posts. Without Senior Editor, <a href="http://www.onbeing.org/blog/what-would-you-be-willing-sacrifice/3749" target="_blank">Trent Gillis' quick post about photographer Ian Ruhter</a>, I would never, ever have had the chance to cheer for his amazing work in <a href="http://vimeo.com/39578584" target="_blank">Silver + Light</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-79491327417774548522013-01-23T15:17:00.000-05:002013-01-23T15:25:30.789-05:00Consumer experience makes it to the future of health!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hiknIIeaXjk/UQA_liFplXI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/KxjbeZ08edc/s1600/Qualcomm+Tricorder+X-Prize.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="68" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hiknIIeaXjk/UQA_liFplXI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/KxjbeZ08edc/s320/Qualcomm+Tricorder+X-Prize.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>"The Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE is a $10 million global competition to
stimulate innovation and integration of precision diagnostic
technologies, making reliable health diagnoses available directly to
"health consumers" in their homes." <span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/competition-details/overview" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8234447925221638598" target="_blank">source</a></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i> </i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: orange;">Finalists for this grand competition will be only those teams earning high scores for consumer experience.<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Specifi<span style="font-size: large;">cally, </span></span>guidelines <span style="font-size: large;">state</span></span></span><span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;">: </span></span></span></span><i><br /></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>"To emphasize the importance of consumer use and adoption, only the five
highest scoring teams from the consumer experience evaluation will be
eligible to win."<span style="font-size: small;"></span></i></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">With such clear contex<span style="color: black;">t in the guidelines,
</span>congratulations are due to competition organizers. By putting a priority on
patients and their experiences they are promoting a future health care
transaction that leverages technology and human intelligence. The final
paragraph of the competition guideline reads:</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>"The winners will be the (up to) three solutions achieving the highest
diagnostic score regarding a set of 15 distinct diseases in a group of
15-30 people in three days (see Guidelines for full details). This
diagnosis must be performed in the hands of a consumer, independently of
a healthcare worker or facility."</i> </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: small;">Learn more:</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/competition-details/overview" target="_blank">Read an overview about the Qualcomm Tricorder X-Prize</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/competition-details/competition-guidelines" target="_blank">Get competition guidelines</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.qualcommtricorderxprize.org/competition-details/intent-compete-form" target="_blank">Sign up to compete</a></span>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-84474141836174125582013-01-15T13:07:00.000-05:002013-01-16T14:35:35.054-05:00Love needs a billing code<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It's the simplest of ideas in health innovation: Give love a billing code.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I tweeted this in the
spring of 2008 at Health 2.0 Conference in Boston. Since then these words
have been echoed, referenced and morphed by many friends and even by some I've
never met in the industry. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><i>Love needs a billing
code</i> brings the idea of care and healing back to simple. It rallies
good people working in this space, reminding us why we started in health care in
the first place. The expression is activating too. It makes explicit a
core value "To Love" that most of us presume is already present as an
under layer in health transactions. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Love is not an industry standard. </span>The presumption that love
is integrated into most health care transactions is flawed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> I am
tempted to be flip and to say that profit is the reliable standard at work in
the industry. While there is good reason to utter such a phrase, I know my
tired soul is talking and I don't want to give voice to broken things. I continue
to dream the possibility of a more loving system end to end. One that is as big
for love as it is in love with big data. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">There are moments of love
in today's health centers, doctors’ offices, and hospitals. We see miracles
and extraordinary feats of humanity so great that we cry every time we encounter
them. But my experience is that our health care ecosystem is unloving
and … quite frankly … unlovable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So why is there not a
billing code to measure the caring potency of a health care encounter? Why is
this idea dismissed as silly, as lacking gravitas, or as poorly matched with
western medicine? Is love considered a downstream transaction? <i>First see the
doctor and then find the love you’ll need to heal?</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We have walked on the moon,
created unmanned drones to hit micro-targets far away, spent millions on challenges and prizes promoting health innovation, and yet we turn away from
measuring the impact of love on the doctor and the patient. Why? This is a crime of omission.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_DZ0-k6XG4/UPWGB9PRlhI/AAAAAAAAA1A/zRr60b3ikJ4/s1600/Love.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Pink paper with question handwritten in black ink" border="0" height="98" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_DZ0-k6XG4/UPWGB9PRlhI/AAAAAAAAA1A/zRr60b3ikJ4/s320/Love.png" title="Why doesn't love have a billing code?" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"> <i>My question since 2008</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Many consumers
unconsciously approach medicine as if it were God's work. Imagine what
might happen if the industry - including insurance - actually caught up with us and started thinking of
itself as doing God's work? Not God 1.0’s work, but God 2.0, the
caring, concerned, tech savvy and adaptive God who functions like a safety net? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What would happen when love
met medicine? Would it lead to nefarious intent and abuse of power? Or would it
perhaps be instrumental in creating a shift in consciousness?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> A
shift inviting us to learn how to tolerate the unbearable losses and
unexplained graces life, death and medicine bring into our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What
if love had a billing code?</span></div>
Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-18879734144286876702012-11-30T17:27:00.000-05:002012-11-30T17:27:36.966-05:00Happy hour with patients #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JPEstriqMq0/ULkw5ZmIkdI/AAAAAAAAA0M/5ra6-pJR_vo/s1600/pills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JPEstriqMq0/ULkw5ZmIkdI/AAAAAAAAA0M/5ra6-pJR_vo/s640/pills.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-24036307210644598072012-11-06T13:46:00.003-05:002012-11-06T13:48:53.282-05:00Final days on the road with Obama - Photo essay by Brooks Kraft<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EOWu5fChPEM/UJlW4s__IeI/AAAAAAAAAz8/D5eKy38-2s4/s1600/LastDaysofObama-Time+Essay.png" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Black and white image of President Barack Obama" border="0" height="540" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EOWu5fChPEM/UJlW4s__IeI/AAAAAAAAAz8/D5eKy38-2s4/s1600/LastDaysofObama-Time+Essay.png" title="Last Days on the Road with Obama by Brooks Kraft" width="640" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"After months of nearly non-stop campaigning, President Obama and his
team have spent the last two weeks crisscrossing the country to make
their final appeals to voters. Veteran political photographer Brooks
Kraft has been there to document the campaign’s final days.<br />
<br />
This was the eighth presidential campaign that Kraft has
photographed, and his sixth for TIME. Over the years, he has honed his
approach to shooting some of the most photographed men and women in the
United States. Kraft rarely takes his pictures from the press platforms,
preferring to move around, searching out unique angles and small
details. "</blockquote>
<h2>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://lightbox.time.com/2012/11/06/last-days-on-the-road-with-obama-by-brooks-kraft/#ixzz2BT7cNNdV" target="_blank">View Brooks' shots and Alissa Ambrose's complete post to Time Lightbox here</a></span></span></span><a href="http://lightbox.time.com/2012/11/06/last-days-on-the-road-with-obama-by-brooks-kraft/#ixzz2BT7cNNdV" style="color: #003399;"></a></span></h2>
Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-27917046678900357172012-09-05T14:37:00.000-04:002014-02-10T12:48:29.874-05:00Play like a girlI played a cut-throat competitive volleyball game at my community rec center last night. The weekly session was advertised as "Adult Co-Ed Pick-up Volleyball", so I thought it would be fun, as well as a great workout. <i></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<h4>
<span style="color: orange;"><i>I showed up with three humble expectations; dust-off my game, burn some calories, have fun. My daughter wanted to spend an hour+ in the nearby weight room, so it was a family exercise "win-win" of the best kind. </i></span></h4>
<br />
I love to play volleyball and know the fundamentals well. I have a mean serve, a steady bump (that can handle a lot of heat), and once in a while I even manage to make a winning set. When considering whether I'd be able to keep up with the others, I estimated that my game would be about 80% Rec-League ready. I was wrong. <br />
<h4>
<span style="color: orange;"><i> </i></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: orange;"><i>I forgot that I should have measured my abilities according to the "fit male with no kids" standard of play. Oops, right away my score went down.</i></span></h4>
<br />
When I arrived at the gorgeous, state-of-the-art gymnasium, delighted by the low price of admission and the opportunity to play for a couple of hours on two regulation-sized courts with a diverse group of adult players, I was surprised to observe only a few other women in the mix (out of approximately 25).<br />
<br />
Before my play could be evaluated fairly, I felt already like an "undesirable", given my age and gender. They meant business; no one took time for intros, no one smiled at me, no one wanted to mix. Two of my male teammates sandwiched me out of adequate positioning repeatedly, until I earned acceptance into the "fit male without kids" tribe. Silly me to forget that of course they assumed I couldn't make an impact. <br />
<br />
It took a muscle of a different mother to stay in that game and persevere. But I did. I stayed in and won and lost shots not to prove myself and my abilities, so much as to train myself how to endure this kind of hostile energy when it threatens one's core confidence and freedom to play. Volleyball at a rec center is play.<br />
<br />
After 90 minutes of consistent, winning serves, feeds and set-ups, our match broke with the side I was on the obvious overall evening winner. It was time to reassemble. The play was fast and I still knew no one's name when it was time for me to go. Although I was drenched with perspiration and had a few "gym burns" as badges, I didn't think the evening was much "fun". It felt like I was on trial. <br />
<br />
... But I just might go back next week. Here's why:<br />
<br />
That 90 minute volleyball session taught me and perhaps my middle-school age daughter who stood watching for the last twenty minutes, so much more than the lighthearted play session I had envisioned. What happened on that court happens at every meeting. It is the real deal and whatever my invisibility was at minute one on "the court of fit males", my daughter saw me playing and succeeding 90 minutes later. Plus, seeing one's daughter fist-pumping for her mom provides an unnamed health benefit no mother should live without! <br />
<h4>
<span style="color: orange;"><i> </i></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="color: orange;"><i>So ... play like a girl. Don't quit, ever. Play in all ages, shapes and sizes and stay in the game. Because this IS the game. This is the ONLY game and by playing we stay relevant; we show up; we join teams and win points; we contribute to society. Cardio-lifts are a mere bonus. </i></span></h4>
<br />
And while I would never ask any of my male compadres from last night's game to stay home next week (their level of play was exciting!), I would like to give them a maternal scolding of sorts to nudge them. Guys, a winning team <i>at the rec level</i> is a balanced team; think screaming spike shot meets consistent, well-placed serve. Let's play together ...<br />
<br />
Later on at home, after I had recounted the experience to my son he said it sounded "like life with a bully on the fifth grade playground". Maybe he's right. <br />
<h4>
<i><span style="color: orange;"> </span></i></h4>
<h4>
<i><span style="color: orange;">Maybe I should expect this, but I am always surprised. Perhaps it would be better if I treated these encounters like those always-engaging recycled plots from Animal Planet; the ones about tricky rodents and pests interrupting domestic bliss. Rodents and encounters with invisibility are just part of our lives and we have to defend against them.</span></i> </h4>
<br />
Something to consider. But with the convention in Charlotte underway, I didn't want anyone at our house, neither my son nor my daughter, to miss the First Lady's speech to the American people. We shifted our focus and settled in for the evening, just as we had a week earlier to listen to Ann Romney's address.Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-83732734741055629592012-05-21T13:08:00.000-04:002012-06-04T10:18:14.902-04:00Patient education: Scare or care?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QiyrfOopGqw/T7o3RNf4g3I/AAAAAAAAAuY/acniLh1LLEI/s1600/What+to+expect+from+Hip+Surgery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Medical illustration focused on hip replacement device" border="0" height="387" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QiyrfOopGqw/T7o3RNf4g3I/AAAAAAAAAuY/acniLh1LLEI/s400/What+to+expect+from+Hip+Surgery.jpg" title="Hospital patient education" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Call me old fashioned, but when a clinical authority hands me a brochure with the title, "What to Expect", I tend to believe what it says.<br />
<br />
That's what was so scary about this patient brochure: it shocked me into expecting a terrifying experience.<br />
<br />
I'm not heading into a hip surgery, thankfully. But if I were, I would want to get the detail view of the implant around page 12, and only then after I had been assured that this surgery took into account my whole being, not just my hip. <br />
<br />
What happens when we zoom out and expect care for the heart, head and whole person? Can we leave caring for "pieces and parts" behind?Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-25393174259862366842012-05-01T04:48:00.001-04:002012-05-23T06:04:02.915-04:00Happy hour, patient style<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZvjQCAceTVU/T5-h_VYBAMI/AAAAAAAAAtE/erhc-nJI8k0/s1600/reassurance+plan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cocktail napkin with quote " border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZvjQCAceTVU/T5-h_VYBAMI/AAAAAAAAAtE/erhc-nJI8k0/s640/reassurance+plan.jpg" title="Health Cocktail #1" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>art and photo</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> by C. Kraft</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-59934319370105478492012-04-21T15:30:00.000-04:002012-05-23T06:05:39.343-04:003-bite desserts and the Google dietAccording to this colorful infographic published by <a href="http://www.medicaresupplementalinsurance.com/google-diet.html">MSI</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"... Using their internal "People Analytics" program, Google looks at how
their employees eat in their free cafeteria and optimizes it so they're
healthier, make better eating decisions, and are more productive through
that process. Google does this by "nudging" their employees into making
the correct eating decisions daily. ..."</blockquote>
The poster captures several easy ideas, the 3-bite dessert among them, to incorporate at home. <br />
<a href="http://www.medicaresupplementalinsurance.com/google-diet.html"><img alt="Google Diet Infographic" border="0" src="http://www.medicaresupplementalinsurance.com/img/google-diet-600px.jpg" /></a><br />
Via: <a href="http://www.medicaresupplementalinsurance.com/google-diet.html">MSI</a>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-43881300087119416852012-04-19T15:30:00.000-04:002012-05-23T06:07:19.137-04:00Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KeXJlt6hAmQ/T5Atx0hbl7I/AAAAAAAAAsM/NPgfpF7ZJ-U/s1600/HealthCocktail201201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KeXJlt6hAmQ/T5Atx0hbl7I/AAAAAAAAAsM/NPgfpF7ZJ-U/s640/HealthCocktail201201.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td class="tr-caption">Brooklyn Superhero Supply, Park Slope 4/12/12</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On a recent trip to Park Slope, Brooklyn, I walked by this impressive storefront and discovered that behind the superhero front are real heroics in the works. <br />
<br />
The storefront is run by <a href="http://826nyc./">826NYC,</a> the New York City chapter of <a href="http://826national.org/">826national.org</a>. They use it as basecamp for their free writing program for kids and young adults, ages 6-18. Below is the description that appears in the online <a href="http://www.superherosupplies.com/">superhero product catalog</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"826NYC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages
6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping
teachers inspire their students to write. Our services are structured
around our belief that great leaps in learning can happen with
one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to
future success. With this in mind we provide drop-in tutoring, field
trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English
language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of our
free programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen
each student's power to express ideas effectively, creatively,
confidently, and in his or her individual voice. "</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://826national.org/stores/">Learn about other 826 stores in DC, Boston, LA and Michigan</a><br />
<br />Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-43259467882692536872012-04-18T18:58:00.001-04:002012-05-23T06:08:28.067-04:00Got innovation potential?How are you coping with the pressure to "innovate or die"? Is it motivating or overwhelming you at your core? <br />
<br />
Art Markman, PhD, recently penned a wonderful (and succinct) POV on the topic for MonsterThinking. I excerpt below:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[There] are three characteristics that — when found together — are good
predictors of someone’s innovation potential. These characteristics are
based on the idea tha<span style="color: black;">t good innovators know a lot about a wide variety
of domains and they are good at using that knowledge when faced with a
new problem.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><b>Openness.</b> Openness is one of
the five basic personality characteristics. People who are open are
willing to try out new experiences and new ideas. ...</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>A need for cognition.</b> Need for cognition refers to how much someone really likes to think
about things. When combined with openness, the high need for cognition
ensures that someone not only considers an idea, but they think it
through carefully. ...</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><b>An ability to use analogies to solve problems.</b> As I discuss in my book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Thinking-Psychology-Problems-Innovate/dp/0399537228" target="_blank">“Smart Thinking,”</a> analogies allow people who are solving a problem in one area to draw on
their knowledge of another area. ...</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<i>Art Markman, PhD, is the Annabel Irion Worsham Centennial Professor
of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas at Austin, and
the director of the program in the <a href="http://sites.la.utexas.edu/hdo/" target="_blank">Human Dimensions of Organizations</a>.
He has written over 125 research papers on topics related to thinking
including reasoning, decision making and motivation. He blogs frequently
for Psychology Today, Huffington Post, and Harvard Business Review. His
latest book is called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Thinking-Psychology-Problems-Innovate/dp/0399537228" target="_blank">“Smart Thinking.”</a> </i><br />
____<br />
<br />
View the post on MonsterThinking <a href="http://www.monsterthinking.com/2012/04/17/who-will-innovate-for-you/">here.</a><i> </i>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-15147476105359265542012-02-23T21:42:00.003-05:002012-05-23T06:10:47.032-04:00Persistence of vision: HIMSS and the evolution of patient engagement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The last time I attended <a href="http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp">HIMSS</a> it was as part of a team from Eclipsys/HealthVision. The year was 2000 and we were debuting a futuristic new product called Cardiovision. Here is a quick list of goals and features we envisioned at the time:<br />
<br />
The product was designed to reduce hospital re-admissions; to function like a "care net" for patients leaving the hospital after cardiac surgery.<br />
<br />
The product integrated tools for clinicians, but was envisioned for patients to use at home.<br />
<br />
The product provided ongoing messaging, bi-weekly 3-way video teleconferencing appointments for patients with their doctors and care managers, as well as secure access to an electronic medical record.<br />
<br />
We even used infographics for friendly display of progress/risk charts to patients and providers.<br />
<br />
There was e-prescribing, but not just for medication. Learning and physical activity was prescribed as well, with the goal of promoting the patient's mental and physical healing. We even suggested a social network, a way to buddy up patients with walking partners.<br />
<br />
On the behavioral side, we created a custom, lean content set designed for distribution to the patient via e-mail over a six-week period, the time when hospital readmission rates were the highest (most costly, and deadliest too).<br />
<br />
The content was created to meet literacy levels anticipated in the community, and all manner of engagement was embedded into the program. In addition to static articles, we created quizzes, audio and videos inspired by Prochaska's transtheoretical model of change. <br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">The entire product vision was based on a belief that patients were capable of and desired taking an active role in recovery, so we built tracking capabilities that enabled user input of activities and sentiments. We asked how people were feeling about the recovery process, and probed for emotional status reports too.</span></i></div>
<br />
The product packaged up game theory into incentives for patients too. I believe one of the prizes was a pair of Nike walking shoes ... <br />
<br />
This was 2000, not 2012. There was no broadband, few mobile phones; data was not liberated, and there were few incentives aimed at igniting consumer demand for participatory medicines. The word "start-up" had hardly made it into the vernacular. <br />
<br />
The prototype received a very positive reception, though many thought we were crazy ... The lead physician on the team appeared on local evening news, a big deal at the time. ... I believed we were even cited as "Best of Show" and singled out by a VC company fishing for good ideas at the conference. <br />
<br />
The product in its entirety did not scale, though certain features were pulled out and developed further.<br />
<br />
----<br />
<br />
This trip down memory lane reminds me that the standout features of all tech-health products are their emotional features, Tracy Kidder's "Soul of the New Machine" so to speak. So at HIMSS 2012 what's so cool to me is that <a href="http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp">Biz Stone is speaking</a>, and <a href="http://reginaholliday.blogspot.com/">Regina Holliday</a> is painting, and <a href="http://epatientdave.com/">e-Patient Dave</a> is electrifying listeners, and <a href="http://healthpopuli.com/">Jane Sarsohn-Kahn</a> is guiding and <a href="http://www.fredtrotter.com/2012/02/20/epatient-himss-2012-badge/">Fred Trotter is gamifying</a> ... what this means is that the soul of patient engagement has become as ALIVE as the financial market surrounding it. The metabolism of the space is rising!<br />
<br />
So, here's to change and to visionaries old and new. Here's to prototyping and ongoing dialogs about empowerment and seeking ways to liberate dependencies on outdated business models.<br />
<br />
Here's to art and science, to conversation and caring. And, above all else, here's to the persistence of vision that technology and tools can be put to good use creating compassionate solutions to ease human suffering.</div>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-85141628401581476412012-02-01T22:25:00.070-05:002012-02-29T11:43:26.947-05:00Vineet Nayar's thoughts on Davos make good sense for health care too<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="background-color: white; color: black;">It used to be "hard power" applied from the top that got things done. In turn, it became "soft power" -- the achievement of change by persuasion. And today? [World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus] Schwab believes our future rests on "collaborative power" -- that is, "the integration of empowered newcomers" into the decision-making process.</i><span style="background-color: white;"> </span> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/25/is-there-room-for-the-protester-at-davos/">Read the post from Vineet Nayar, </a><a href="http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/01/25/is-there-room-for-the-protester-at-davos/">CNN Money</a></span></blockquote>
----<br />
<br />
When it comes to changing the culture of health, many will outwardly embrace the "empowered newcomer" while continuing business as usual. All of us have wrestled with this dynamic and I propose that the wrestling is about keeping the discomfort of "not knowing" what the newcomer wants at bay. Here's how it works:<br />
<br />
Co-mingling empowered newcomers into mature business processes makes us anxious and awkward, some of us just a little, others a lot.<br />
<br />
There is rarely adequate time to move through the awkward feelings meeting a newcomer brings up in time to establish a rapport a professional context. This can take years because we approach the situation with blind spots.<br />
<br />
One blind spot or preconceived limit is that there simply is not room for a newcomer's perspective. Why? Because some feel that newbies don't "get it", cannot "articulate it" or simply slow things down to such a point that empowered stakeholders are impatient to return to business as usual. <br />
<br />
Squirm as we may, until chaired leaders become skilled at tolerating the anxiety and uncertainty of newcomer encounters, the conversation about innovation will leave a tremendous raw energy source untapped. ...<br />
<br />
It's an irrational season in American health care. This season of seduction keeps calling us to envision care in new ways.<br />
<br />
We hear the siren song of apps, big data, information, tools, treatments and processes promising to take us closer to healing, to loving, and to the care we received from our mothers and fathers (or did not receive).<br />
<br />
The promises of the future are intoxicating, the needs are overwhelming, the technology nothing but mind-blowing. And yet, will we come close to realizing the potential this moment offers? ... I ask myself: <br />
<ul>
<li>How might we unleash and package the power of the individual? </li>
<li>How might we establish trust as a product platform? </li>
<li>How might we foster and ignite humility within the re-imagining of health and wellness? </li>
<li>How might we learn to perceive the individual's ability to "not know" as a sign of advanced thinking?</li>
<li>How might we germinate these ideas within?</li>
<li>How might we apply these ideas to a single relationship? </li>
<li>How might we grow these ideas into a fluid layer of dialog globally?</li>
</ul>
It is the individual that powers the network and it is the individual who seeds our increasingly global, fluid kinship system.<br />
<br />
As Vineet Mayar suggests, it's a ready acceptance of what is new or feared that may ultimately extend an individual's or group's vitality and relevance.<br />
<br />
Reflecting on my own style in these contexts, I view my readiness to seek out the newcomer's P.O.V. to the health of my growth mindset. When looked at this way, I see the whole exchange one of co-empowerment.<br />
<br />
Rather than welcoming someone into the elite, we give away the idea of elite in exchange for something raw and less abstract.<br />
<br />
By re-framing the exchange between newcomer and stakeholders as one of co-empowerment, we create a supply of related but distinct exponential thinkers over time. It's a way to accelerate the positive impact we can make on the world together.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Re-written 2/9 after conversations with <a href="http://www.jopm.org/evidence/case-studies/2010/11/08/shifting-from-shared-to-collaborative-decision-making-a-change-in-thinking-and-doing-4/">Alex Jadad, MD, PhD</a> 2/6-9, 2012, #Future Med</i></span></div>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-2438406486479124832011-12-13T04:33:00.003-05:002012-02-29T10:57:18.003-05:00Get there safely<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr align="left"><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4Htv2RGPwM/TucXMFoB_MI/AAAAAAAAAl4/rfNKOT61MuA/s1600/tornado-shelter-denver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4Htv2RGPwM/TucXMFoB_MI/AAAAAAAAAl4/rfNKOT61MuA/s640/tornado-shelter-denver.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Denver International Airport Sign, Terminal C, 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This sign surprised me and got me thinking about planning for the unexpected.<br />
<br />
Along with Baggage Claim and Gate listings, I would expect to see Ground Transportation, Taxi/Shuttles/Transit. I would expect to get directions to the Restrooms, First Aid/Medic, even Police or Emergency stations. But I would not expect Tornado Shelter as a 1-line option on these signs. <br />
<br />
Since tornadoes aren't part of my basic weather consciousness, seeing a "tornado shelter" called-out next to the usual suspects teased my anxiety, rather than prompt my sense of preparedness.<br />
<br />
It left me wanting a follow-up on the topic so that I could learn about incidences and specifics of tornadoes in Denver, and parse the level of risk associated with a trip through Denver International.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8234447925221638598.post-50757228832842565332011-10-16T06:08:00.008-04:002012-05-23T06:12:52.567-04:00Blog Action Day 2011: Clagett Farm, Chesapeake Bay Foundation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<i> Since 2007, Blog Action Day has focused bloggers around the world to blog about one important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included water, <a href="http://cocovillage.blogspot.com/2009/10/no-despair-allowed-climate-change-for.html">climate change</a> and poverty. This year <a href="http://blogactionday.org/">Blog Action Day</a> is focused on the topic of food. </i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pCFOOSLM_rg/TpqfAZTfxII/AAAAAAAAAlI/z5iCXCaIztg/s1600/Clagett-farm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pCFOOSLM_rg/TpqfAZTfxII/AAAAAAAAAlI/z5iCXCaIztg/s640/Clagett-farm.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(This photo via <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/absentmindedprof/sets/72157624984458816/with/6155817920/" target="_self">absentmindedprof on Flickr</a>)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
Yesterday we traveled out to <a href="http://www.cbf.org/page.aspx?pid=398">Clagett Farm, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's</a> working farm and education center, for a day of service. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TJS0LluBh0k/Tpq7nJ8NFpI/AAAAAAAAAlY/reD4XRbSE2E/s1600/claggett-farm-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TJS0LluBh0k/Tpq7nJ8NFpI/AAAAAAAAAlY/reD4XRbSE2E/s200/claggett-farm-map.jpg" width="156" /></a>Clagett Farm is a 285-acre historic tobacco farm 12 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. and six miles west of Maryland’s Patuxent River (just outside Upper Marlboro, MD). A living model of environmentally sustainable farming practices, the farm's landscape is covered with 20 acres of organic vegetables, clover, and grass pastures for beef cattle, as well as 60 acres of forest.</div>
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Our chores included removing hundreds of yards of drip tape from a crop field and disposing it; harvesting the last remaining green, yellow, and purple beans; and weeding 200+ native tree and shrub nursery pots. The work was moderately intense - the heavy-weeding especially -- but all three tasks were good for mixed ages looking to explore farming life through physical work.</div>
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Yesterday's service also reminded me that the range of choices we have when it comes to food in America is astounding when compared to so many other countries or regions. We can lose sight of our advantages while working hard to improve the problems surrounding mass production, food safety, urban food advocacy and malnutrition. </div>
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Choosing to eat life-supporting foods and feeling gratitude for that food is a habit, and a single visit to a farm will not instill this habit in our hearts and minds. But my belief is that a day of hard work on a farm can contribute to the ongoing dialog we have at home. Plus, it's fun. </div>
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The kids are tomorrow's growers, buyers, parents and advocates. They need to taste the differences for themselves. It's a simple path, but not one that is always easy to follow.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<a href="http://cocovillage.blogspot.com/2010/01/predicting-future.html">Predicting the future </a></div>
<a href="http://cocovillage.blogspot.com/2008/10/cocos-weekly-meal-plan-kid-tested.html" style="font-family: inherit;">Coco's weekly meal plan: Kid tested!</a></div>Christine Krafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07079954620781376315noreply@blogger.com0