Divine Digesting of the Blogs, V. 2

A couple things from the All Mighty Reader...
Chapter I. Religious folks and saving lives;
Chapter II. A sports career in retrospect;
Chapter III. Running in (pretty much) my parents' backyard!

I. Religious folks and saving lives
Toni at EverythingHealth noted an interesting study in the New York Times a couple weeks ago. Terminally ill cancer patients who were very religious (specifically Christians in the U.S.) were more likely to request intensive life-saving procedures in the last week of life than other people. These other people included Christians who were not quite so religious and people who chose other coping mechanisms altogether. You can find the abstract here.

The lead author, Dr. Holly G. Prigerson offered her explanation of this curious finding in the Times article: “To religious people, life is sacred and sanctified and there’s a sense they feel it’s their duty and obligation to stay alive as long as possible.”

While that may be the case, the procedures used to squeeze out every last drop of life are the most costly. The Times estimates that Medicare spends about 1/3 of it's budget on people in their last year of life, and most of it at the very end. I suppose that statistic isn't really as outrageous as it sounds though--obviously most people want to do whatever they can to hold onto someone a bit longer, regardless of cost.

Invasive procedures performed at the end of life can also be emotionally taxing. The article suggested that prolonging life for these terminally ill cancer patients created more physical pain for the patient and emotional pain for loved ones.

So, is this another reason to chastise evangelical Christians, or is their fight a good one?

II. A sports career in retrospect
Completely changing gears-- Megan at ...Because I Played Sports posted about her experience at the 2009 WNBA Draft, along with a little background as to why this event was so special. I really appreciated reading the back story to the development of her blog and everything that has followed. It's always great to hear Plan B success stories! (And no, that was not a birth control reference.)

My back story is probably not as interesting or as poignant (since I'm not writing this from my ESPN dressing room or whatever), but in the last two years since I haven't been playing softball, spring season is bittersweet. I too started playing softball when I was a little girl, and I loved it right from the beginning. I don't hesitate to say I still love it to this day, but my career was so full of highs and lows and insecurities and frustrations that it's extremely difficult to look back on it with any detail and not cringe in agony. Why didn't I try out for that team? Why wasn't I more confident? HOW DID I MISS THAT BALL?!

As a whole, I loved and continue to love it. I have no doubts that playing the game for so many years has had a direct effect on the person I am today. But at times I have to wonder--Why put myself through it? There wasn't a season I didn't cry or complain or threaten to quit, up until the very end (when I probably should have thrown in the towel). There were times I could have strangled my coach or my teammates or my "captains."

But despite all the headaches and knee aches and stomachaches... maybe it's all about the struggle. Without it, what's the point? It makes life thoroughly interesting and without it, I would (well, we ALL would) just be a puddle of goo in a LaZ Boy. Which is not to say that sometimes that doesn't sound awesome...

III. Running in (pretty much) my parents' backyard!
Quickly--Watch this video that was posted at Women Like Sports.

Watch until Marni Renison starts talking to you. Now hit Pause. This is Tualatin Hills Park and Rec complex and it's like a 3 minutes walk from where I grew up. That big white building over Marni's right shoulder? That's where I played basketball most of my life. And the path right behind her? It goes down the hill and off to the left, past the soccer fields and TO MY HOUSE. Oh Oregon, how I miss thee.

What a nice, end of the work day surprise!

Update: No $$ in the bank, no ga$ in the tank...

As a follow-up to my recent post about women forgoing health care because of financial issues (No money in the bank, no gas in the tank and no healthcare either, 12/17/08), I thought I'd point out a post from Women's Health News that covers the same issue, but is based on a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

PBS reported the survey's results, which indicated that more people have been postponing health care or treatment, not filling prescriptions and skipping appointments because of the costs.


Can we just gives props to the Women's National Health Resource Center for already covering this?! It's too bad Kaiser has billions more cash monies to pay for a huge survey and publicity.

Although, I was thinking that BOTH surveys have a pretty major reporting flaw in that participants are asked to report on their current feelings toward healthcare and their past feelings toward healthcare at the same time. It's been proven time and time again that your current inclinations towards a specific thing can greatly affect your past perceptions of that same thing... even when that thing is something as seemingly bias-resistant as seeking healthcare.

I would imagine that while not everyone is feeling the effects of the economic downturn, since we talk about it so damn much, it seems like it's worse than it currently is. Surely, it will get worse later, so are people really unable to pay for health care or are they unwilling?

And, in response to Kaiser's survey, was it really that much worse in October 2008 than it was in April 2008, a mere 7 months later? I don't know. I'm skeptical, but that's why I'm asking.

This isn't me being insensitive, because I pay for health insurance also. Sometimes PBS is just annoying to me... like how this story Even Insured Patients Struggle as Healthcare Costs Rise appears in the special In-Depth Coverage section on "The Uninsured in America." Um, these people have insurance, and they're complaining about it? At least they have it, compared to the 25 million who are apparently underinsured in the USA.

Look, if you want to talk about healthcare in general, just put it all in a "Healthcare Issues" section. But don't throw everything healthcare related under "The Uninsured" because it's misleading.

There are strong arguments for all of these issues, but when you throw all this crap together and force it to be related (when it shouldn't be), it muddles the issues, nobody wins and everyone is annoyed. Most of all me.

No money in the bank, no gas in the tank and no healthcare either

The National Women's Health Resource Center recently published their 4th annual Women T.A.L.K. survey, which showed that many women have opted to forgo medical attention in the past year because of financial issues.

Forty-five percent of women aged 18 and over reported that they failed to seek medical care because the cost was too high. This includes skipping doctors visits and recommended medical procedures, as well as failing to fill prescriptions for themselves or family members. Yikes.

To read the full report in pdf, click here.

Overall, I think the NWHRC survey is interesting on the surface but it doesn't go far enough. Respondents were aged 18 and up, and while the survey did ask demographic information, it never breaks down the results by age, ethnicity, education or income.

I emailed the Director of Marketing and Communications at the NWHRC, Marisa Rainsberger, because of that oversight, and she sent me this information:

Percent Who Skipped Care in Past Year
Aged 55+ - has skipped care: 31%; has not skipped care 69%
Aged 35-54 ­ has skipped care: 53%; has not skipped care 47%
Aged 18-34 - has skipped care: 51%; has not skipped care 49%

She explained that there weren't enough respondents to break it down any further than these three ages groups; the numbers were too small to be statistically significant.

As for ethnicity, I couldn't find any specific information in the full report, but the press release indicates:

Hispanic women were most likely to have skipped health care in the past year (58%) versus white (43%) or African American (42%) women.

And the other indicators, education and income? There was no information that I could find.

The survey also covered aging issues, you know, how women feel about getting older, whether they are prepared for aging, and who their favorite 55+ female celebrity was (Tina Turner). Ok then.

Included in the Women T.A.L.K. online press package, is a pdf called Tips for Minimizing Healthcare Costs. Despite a couple questionable suggestions (right after "Exercise" is "Cancel the gym membership": look people, I'm not made of steel. I refuse to run outside in freezing weather.), most of the advice is practical and not just another tirade on "healthy living," which is nice. Suggestions include:

• Read medical bills carefully.
• Use all the services you pay for.
• Wash your hands.
• When you're sick, stay home!
• Educate yourself about your health.
• Use safety equipment when required.
• And floss!

Alright then, will do. Thank you. I suspect that if the NWHRC had a bigger budget, they'd be all over a more thorough survey, including more publicity to attract more respondents. But alas, it is what it is.

FYI: "The Measure of America"

Madeline Drexler's op-ed in today's Boston Globe, The need to combine social and health policy, discusses a report by the Social Science Research Council called "The Measure of America". At $24.95, I was not about to order and read the entire thing, but information about the report can be found here.

Drexler explains that "The Measure of America" applies the United Nations human development model to the United States, which until now had never been done before... and for good reason. The results are less than flattering. Drexler says,

Underscoring how far we lag in our promise, the report documented how the roughly $5.2 billion we spend every day on healthcare yields a pitiable return on investment. For example, US life expectancy ranks below that of Chile, Costa Rica, and nearly every European and Nordic country. The US infant mortality rate is on par with that of Croatia, Cuba, Estonia, and Poland. Within the United States, stark health inequities persist along socioeconomic and racial/ethnic lines.

Yikes.
Drexler goes on to explain how most of the countries ranking above the USA provide universal health care, weighing the health consequences of policies in "taxation, business development, transportation, housing, agriculture, and so on". She considers a lack of health care the primary reason for the disparities.

The op-ed ends with this quote:

As Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told me during the group's annual meeting last month: "I would love Barack Obama to declare that he wants America to be the healthiest nation in the world - in a generation. Americans need to rally around the idea of grappling not only with healthcare, but with health."

Interesting point. Right now the health care industry is exactly that--an industry. As in, for profit. When you consider in that way, its no wonder that our national health sucks.

Last thing--Along with "The Measure of America" report, the website offers some "Tools" to play around with. One is called the Well-O-Meter. The introduction says,

The formula used to calculate the American HD Index for large population groups cannot be used for individuals. However, you can get a general sense of your own human development level by using our well-o-meter.

I answered the 25 questions, but the results mean very little to me. If you can't use the test for individuals, why are they using it for individuals? It makes no sense.