My Vision- Preventative Medicine For All

"Preventative Medicine Reduces Morbidity Rates- WORLDWIDE!"

[World populations engage in alternative approaches to wellness; several facets of health addressed]

As a Public Health major, it is only natural that I am passionate about the health and well-being of society. However, I feel like this passion and major of mine are so much deeper than just that. Taking the health of the public into consideration when choosing a career has helped me to realize how multi-faceted health, and sickness for that matter, actually are. I believe that there are a lot of things that can help improve the overall well-being of the world's population, that simply are not made a priority in today's society.

My vision for the world is to promote and encourage "preventative medicine," or approaches in medicine, alternative medicine, etc. to help prevent disease, sickness, and overall morbidity of the population. Some of these approaches can include more importance/reliance on physical check ups. Seeing a general practitioner at least three times a year for a physical can help doctors catch diseases in the early stages (i.e. heart disease or cancer), and can boost the patient's chances of a full recovery. This example will hopefully encourage people to take on the mentality that health screenings are as important, if not more, than seeking medical attention when illness arises. When the population adjusts to this kind of mentality, and takes on a more proactive approach to wellness rather than a retroactive, I believe that this will dramatically decrease morbidity rates world-wide.

I would also like to push the importance of alternative wellness approaches, such as yoga, meditation, religious ceremonies, exercise, etc. Health is multi-faceted- meaning that there is more than one type of health in a person that must be considered, including; mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional health, as examples. Approaches like these can, and do, help people improve people's well-being. Strategies, such as yoga, have proven to dramatically decrease one's stress levels. As is commonly known, stress chemicals in the body, including cortisol, can lead to weight gain (among many other things) which is a major factor to the development of heart disease, as one example. I believe that these alternative approaches to wellness will improve the overall health of the population because it will increase people's positive mentality, happiness confidence, etc. which are major factors to positive mental, physical, and emotional health.

In short, I would like to educate people about the facets of health, as well as encourage them to view health proactively so as to prevent illness before it happens. This can be achieved by spreading awareness of diseases and educating people about health risks. I think that once the population adopts these ideas and a health-conscious mindset, that morbidity rates will be reduced world-wide...and that would be a wonderful accomplishment for me to see in my career.

Group Dynamic Post

Group Dynamics Blog Post

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids is the story of two best friends, Annie and Lillian, one of whom is finally getting married. As Lillian’s life goes in the direction she always wanted, Annie is left behind, single and working at a less than desirable job. As Lillian’s maid of honor, it’s Annie’s job to be in charge of the bridal party and make sure that everything goes according to plan. The group of bridesmaids are a wacky crew of women with odd senses of humor and overall good intentions.

           First, we’re going to apply Tuckman’s Model to the movie Bridesmaids. In the forming stage, Lillian brings all of the women together as bridesmaids with the same purpose: to ensure that the bachelorette party, the bridal shower, and the wedding run smoothly. Next, in the storming stage, the girls struggle with finding a balance as a group. They don’t deal with conflict directly and everything gets done in a roundabout fashion. Annie and Helen compete head to head with one another to become the maid of honor. Helen has trouble accepting the fact that Annie is the maid of honor and frequently undermines her plans and opinions. While Annie and Helen are left behind in the storming stage, Megan flourishes in the norming stage. She tries to make everyone happy and pumped up. When Annie feels left out, Megan reaches out to her and knocks some sense into her with positivity and kind words. Also in the norming stage, Lillian tells Annie not to bother coming to the wedding anymore due to her outlandish behavior. Lillian is being fair and asks Annie not to participate since she’s acting crazy.

Megan carries the norming stage over to the performing stage by cheering Annie up and by bringing her back into the bridesmaids group. She really reestablishes the purpose and the norms. Also, Annie and Helen learn to work together to find Lillian (who becomes a runaway bride). Then Annie convinces Lillian to go through with the wedding, renewing their relationship and rebuilding her commitment as her best friend and maid of honor. The adjourning stage is the final one and that occurs after the wedding is over. It’s established the Lillian will stay connected to everyone, but the resolution occurs when Annie and Helen agree to hang out.

 

As for the various roles held by each of the women, we’ll start with Lillian. Lillian is the bride, but in this case, she’s the Mediator. She selected all of the women to be her bridesmaids, so she’s constantly trying to ensure that the group is cohesive. She’s the reason that they’re all together. Annie is the Summarizer. As the maid of honor, her duties are to lead the group and make sure the plan is set. She organizes the plans; for example, she decides on a bridal shower theme and a location for the bachelorette party. Annie makes sure that everyone is on the same page and makes sure everyone’s voice is heard. Helen is the Clarifier. As Annie’s foil, she builds on everyone else’s ideas and creates her own plan to make it better. In one scene, she convinces everyone to go to Vegas instead of an old lake house. She’s able to switch the entire plan convincingly. Megan is the Encourager. She always brings people together and pumps them up for whatever the plan is. She positively empowers the other women. Rita and Becca are both Followers in the group. They literally agree with all of the other plans made by Annie and Helen. Also, Becca is an Opinion Seeker. She naively asks Rita for advice on life and relationships. Coinciding with Becca’s role, Rita is the Opinion Giver, helping Becca with her misguided advice.

Ethical Decision Making- [Sarah Rust, Megan Kasarda, & Erin Stinard]

Our situation;

"The treasurer of BuckeyeThon was totaling the accounts after an afternoon of "canning" and realized that the group had reached $5,000 past their $3,000 goal. The treasurer decided to siphon the coins from the collection to use for her own personal use because her parents, whom she had depended on, had passed away and she was left with nothing. Her only source of income is a 3 hour a week bathroom-cleaning job at The Waffle House. She knew she would be the only one totaling the money, and that the coins were often miscounted. She told herself that she would "raise back" the funds that she took before the Dance Marathon, where total funds would be calculated. Is her decision to take the funds and repay them back later, an ethical one?"


Our reaction;

No, her decision was not ethical. It was a short-term fix to a long-term problem, and it she attempted to fix a personal situation with property (in this case, the funds) that was not hers to take. She took an individual over community based stance because she focused on her own personal needs instead of looking at the bigger picture and acting towards the good of the community (BuckeyeThon, in this case). Additionally, she failed to act truthfully or loyally. She was trusted to count the money truthfully, as the treasurer of BuckeyeThon- a job to which she was entrusted with. Also, she put herself above the needs of the organization, showing that she failed to honor her commitment. Although her situation is extremely unfortunately and others may say that her decision is excusable (since she will pay it back), however, she breached the trust of the organization when she intentionally failed to do her job. This made her decision unethical, in our opinion.