Three years in the past proper round this time, I went residence from my job in a single other Chicago newsroom and hunkered down, like all people else frightened as COVID-19 case numbers swelled right here and throughout the nation. Groceries had been delivered, plans had been canceled, social gatherings turned Zoom calls.
in the present day we largely go about our lives usually as quickly as extra, with the prospect of COVID an infection lurking inside the background, very akin to the flu. probably we nonetheless have one or two confirm kits stowed in a treatment cupboard, simply in case.
Marking the three-12 months anniversary of the pandemic, significantly with the may eleven finish of the federal public well being emergency in sight, acquired me reflecting about these previous 36 months, what has modified in healthcare and what’s subsequent.
We started carrying masks to assist defend us from COVID-19, however these turned politicized. informal conversations with household and mates may devolve into disagreements, and masks mandates had been challenged in courts. these discussions had been tame in contrast with the heated ones about vaccines. Healthcare leaders and some politicians acquired here collectively to induce people to take precautions. i ponder what the plan is now—as extra states carry masks mandates in healthcare settings—and later, as new variants emerge and extra boosters are developed.
There’s additionally the problem of behavioral well being. The psychological well being struggles of kids and adults all by means of the pandemic not solely eliminated what stigma nonetheless lingered on this a aspect of the healthcare enterprise, however additionally elevated remedy decisions like telehealth. That’s the upside. the selection side is like all market the place there’s alternative: dangerous actors raced to the residence, extra intent on lining their very personal pockets than serving to sufferers. Let’s hope the mannequin new transparency with reference to the want for extra behavioral well being decisions sticks, and current strikes by the feds to curb abusive practices carry out a warning to the profiteers.
and at final, the pandemic safe a harsh and overdue spotlight on how underserved many communities of shade are on the matter of healthcare entry and decisions. Some organizations, hospitals, healthcare firms and group teams have stepped as a lot as handle the disparities. That’s encouraging. however, given the strapped funds of a quantity of of these gamers, will these good intentions get parked on the sidelines? I hope not.
these are three of my reflections. What’s in your record?
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