My Well-Laid Plans Revisited

Together We Can Have a Healthcare System That Serves EVERYONE

In my April 20 post, “So Much for My Well-Laid Plans,” I mentioned that my wife and I had stepped in to care for her younger brother as he began recovering from a stroke on March 6 and how disruptive it was to my posting plans. In the weeks since, he has participated in inpatient therapy, home therapy, outpatient therapy, and another trip to the hospital to treat a Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI), followed by a return to inpatient therapy, and if all goes well, back to our home and the resumption of outpatient therapy. 

Our experiences now, compared to when we cared for aging family members in our home during the last decade and even two years ago with my brother-in-law’s first stroke, call into question the performance levels of our healthcare system in areas such as:

• Capacity

• Care

• Responsiveness

• Cost

• Accessibility

And many more!

As we incorporate this understanding of how our healthcare system functions into our plans for “aging in place,” we realize that those plans are at risk due to the system’s limits by design. We believe the healthcare system does not have to be this way — a better design would result in better performance for all involved — without imposing cost increases and possibly reducing them. 

Since my April 20 post, I’ve found more colleagues from previous projects publishing on Substack, and I’ve made new connections with other writers who have noteworthy insights to share. Among these are John Warinner (@poemdubber), Bill Fulkerson (@williamfulkerson), Michael Greenman (@michaelgreenman), Helen Stucky-Weaver (@sistersueweaver), Michel Bauwens (@michelbauwens), Franz Nahrada (@globalvillagesinfo), etc. All of us listed and those close to us in age, particularly those with existing health conditions, consider healthcare quality, availability, and affordability paramount. However, we (plus millions more names not yet added to the list above) have the knowledge, skills, and practical experience in social change to transform the healthcare system into one that meets the needs of everyone — Together We Can!

I’m embarking on a posting strategy that includes articles, notes, messages, and comments on Substack to clarify deficiencies in the current healthcare system and propose alternative approaches to transform the system. I intend to link individual efforts together using powerful technology tools already available and new ones coming online daily, highlighting those areas where a positive change in healthcare is already underway and more following in its wake. 

Among the technology gurus I’ve found on Substack is Jerry Michalski (@x3ri). Jerry and I “met” on a webinar he gave last year, Jerry’s Brain 25th Anniversary: A Journey of Innovation and Discovery in the World’s Largest Brain, about how he uses TheBrain platform to document well over 500,000 items (including over 500 on healthcare alone) and make them publicly viewable. By following Jerry’s example, I will expand and refine my version of TheBrain, My Basic Framework, to track progress with research and writing and highlight the interconnectedness among so many other practitioners of social change and transformation of systems like healthcare and complement previous postings on Together We Can-Expanded Edition, and expand on ”Understanding the Concept of Aging in Place.” 

As with many people, I benefit from feedback. Your observations, suggestions, experiences, and introductions to others are most welcome! Thanks in advance for your help!