What Cuba Can Teach Us about Building a Culture of Health

[Mika]

What Cuba Can Teach Us about Building a Culture of Health

{snip}

◆ Primary Care is local and comprehensive. A physician and nurse live and work in each community, and care for about 1,800 families. They make yearly home visits and keep updated records on each member of a household to see how they are maintaining their health. If a resident needs to see a specialist, his or her records are hand-delivered back to the primary care provider. Local doctors and nurses also understand the social situation of their patients—what their homes are like, their education level, the number of family members, and any particular challenges they face. In Cuba, prevention of such public health threats as tuberculosis, diabetes, hypertension and HIV is a primary goal for the country’s leadership. This kind of continuous, cradle-to-grave medical and social care goes a long way toward helping people stay healthy and avoid hospitalization.

◆ There is a strong emphasis on healthy aging. Cuba has a rapidly aging population, and by 2025 one-quarter of the nation’s citizens will be over 60. Since almost all of the older people in Cuba live with their families, nursing homes are rare. To better care for older residents, local health workers educate families about how to prevent falls and how to recognize problems that need prompt care. Communities also have vibrant senior centers that offer activities that include visits to museums, dancing at local cabarets, and educational sessions where older people learn new skills and continually expand their knowledge. Since having several generations living in the same home can cause tensions, we heard about seniors taking classes on grandparenting, the challenges of intergenerational relations, elder abuse and gender equity. These senior centers are operated very much peer-to-peer, tapping the talents of the older people themselves to provide social, emotional and intellectual support. Maintaining the health of the body and mind through life-long learning is considered of upmost importance for the oldest residents of communities.

◆ Community health is everyone’s concern. Clinical records are used to monitor the health of the entire community. If there is an uptick in the number of skin rashes, authorities will look at water quality. If an outbreak of food poisoning occurs, the community will make sure refrigeration is adequate. When red flags go up, there is a coordinated response and intervention. For example, if residents are concerned about increased use of alcohol among their teens, community members will get together and try to develop a strategy for dealing with the problem—perhaps providing more teen activities and a space for young people to socialize. The community then informs the central public health administration about their experience with teen drinking to help the government devise a national plan for dealing with the issue, likely to be impacting other communities.

In the end, our overall impression is that the government and the people of Cuba truly value health and well-being, and are effectively building a Culture of Health. What is astonishing to us is that they have done this with the scarcest of resources. With a life expectancy of 76.9 years, Cuba is just behind the U.S., yet its spending per person on health care is about 1/25th the spending of the U.S.

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Entire article here.

[elleng]

1. Damn commies!

[brer cat]

2. That is amazing.

I wish the community health focus could be duplicated here, but that would upend our system to a degree that I don't see it happening.

Very interesting read. Thanks for posting, Mika. K&R

[Nay]

3. "What is astonishing to us is that they have done this with the scarcest of resources."

Wrong. Cuba is full of the resource they need to solve these kinds of problems -- solidarity, caring, a wish to learn and improve, and love of their neighbors.

What do we do? Complicate every little transaction with vendors, privateers, salesmen, and layers upon layers of complexity. All in the name of profit.

And we wonder why they get decent results and we get shitty ones?

[Mika]

6. Thanks for making this observation. Cuba is not impoverished. Cuba has a lot to give.

And, in giving, they are the recipients of love and solidarity by nearly all who have made contact.

[Judi Lynn]

4. This unique, intelligent, successful way of dealing with public well-being is superior.

They discovered people are interrelated, and the well-being of one affects the well-being of all. It IS best for everyone if everyone is healthy. Makes perfect sense. Anything less doesn't.

Anything less, especially much, MUCH less is what the U.S. right-wing wants. How can the greedy, treacherous ones among us enjoy their advantages if everyone has a chance to live without horrendous pain?

[Mika]

5. You hit the proverbial nail on the head, Judi.

I have learned something so important ... that kindness and compassion can heal the most grievous of wounds ... of the recipient and the giver. I see it every time I go, and try to incorporate this philosophy into my life every day. In the course of healing the wounds of others I heal my own wounds.

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others,
past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."
- David Mitchell

[bemildred]

7. Start with the obvious fact that greed is not healthy. nt