Journal #18: Seeking Health care

Today I started to think about what it means to 'seek'. 

According to Websters dictionary it means:

1: to resort to : go to

2 : to go in search of : look for : to try to discover

3: to ask for : request

4: to try to acquire or gain : aim at

5: to make an attempt

Hide and Seek....

 *photos from pinterest

These all mean something different to different people, at different times. Everyone here on this earth is seeking a certain type of existence and thus, they expect certain things out of each individual experience. Each new day brings with it new expectations, new rules to follow, new outcomes to be had, new truths to be found and all these things come with discovery. One must first seek to discover though. What is it that I am seeking to find? I have the best source of truth and knowledge that I know in my life. I have happiness, I have joy and love and peace. I am currently seeking learning every day as I attend school. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I seek learning through Him with every passing moment. If ever there is something 'missing' in my life, I know where to look because of my faith. 

But what about those things that do not require faith alone? What is it that is leading and guiding peoples lives, peoples every day decisions? A lot of the sources I have been looking at recently have researched the reasons for a patients health care seeking behaviors. There have been endless attempts to understand why people choose healing through certain mediums. Why they go to the clinic vs the hospital, the hospital vs the traditional healer...what exactly is it that they are seeking from these institutions? There are many more decisions than this though, it is not just about the place. It blows my mind sometimes to think about how I am trying to understand other human beings when I feel like my own  world and my own existence is so huge sometimes. How are there billions of other humans experiencing the same things that I am, feeling the same feelings, thinking the same thoughts etc, though at the same time we are not the same at all. They see me from within themselves at the same time as I see them. While the people at the hospitals with whom I interact are seeking a certain type of treatment (medically and person-ably), I am seeking to understand the interactions that they and the doctors produce while they are seeking this treatment of malaria. Thinking about it in such a round about way seems to make absolutely no sense at all. How can I even find the answers to what I am seeking for when everyone is seeking something different from seemingly the same source? Thinking about my project within this scope of ideas makes it seem so incredibly broad that it seems that no one will ever really be able to understand another human being completely. Yet, we do. Humans are fascinating and as I seek to understand more about the world around me and the people who inhabit it, I hope that I others will be able to find answers to those things they are seeking as well. 

Journal #15: Malarial Diagnosis

I read an article today for one of my sources about malarial diagnosis in hospitals. I do not know much about malaria itself other than a few random facts and since I am going to be doing research where the patients will all have malaria, I am going to spend the next week or two focusing on malaria as an illness or disease, social impacts of malaria if any, and Ghanaian health care. Some general information about malaria: malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease. The disease is transmitted by mosquito bites and can be reduced by preventing those bites. The World Health Organization's 2011 world malaria report accounted for 2.23% of deaths worldwide and 90% of those deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Signs and symptoms of malaria include fever, shivering, joint pain, vomiting, jaundice, and convulsions. The classic symptom of malaria is cyclical occurrence of sudden coldness followed by rigor and then fever and sweating lasting four to six hours. There is a very high chance of malarial infection in Ghana thus we will be taking doxycycline, an anti-biotic which we will need to start taking a few days before going to Ghana and continue taking a month after we return. Malaria is a disease/illness...whatever you want to call it which is very unpleasant to experience so I hear.

Because malaria is such a prominent disease in Africa I anticipate it being a very good lens to explore gender and doctor-patient relationships through.

The fact that there is no sure way of preventing it is a huge reason why there are so many cases of malaria throughout the world and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Mosquito nets and antibiotics are physical preventives but if a mosquito is going to bite its going to bite and then that disease enters your blood stream. It is so simple for the disease to spread and that is why it is so severe. Using malaria as a control for observing differences among how different genders are treated by doctors in their interactions will allow for a good source of measurement when it comes time to analyze my results. Another reason why I am using malaria as a control is because there is a pretty standardized method of treatment and thus, there will not be much variation in ways of diagnosis, there will not be much variation in doctors methods of treatment because they will have been trained to treat this disease in the same way, reasons such as these will help to minimize the number of unforseen factors which could affect the administration of these treatments according to the patient's gender.

Journal #14: Ghanaian Healthcare

After discussing my literature review and realizing how much information I am lacking on Ghanaian health care I have decided to do a thorough search to find out everything that I can. An article I just read talked about how the Ghanaian health care system gets an overall satisfied to very satisfied rating from patients. This article was a good indicator of how patients feel they are receiving health care in Ghana. Of course this study was only carried out in one District and health care is administered differently from hospital to clinic to hospitals around the country but nonetheless I feel satisfied that health care in the hospital in Asamang will be received well by the patients who seek malaria treatment there. I have not had much experience with health care in the United States because I have luckily lived a very healthy life. My immune system is a real champion I tell ya! The only time I have been inside a hospital was to see newborn babies. I know that there is talk about Obamacare and health care reform all throughout the world about who has access to it, for what cost and so on... I don't know if that discussion will ever end. One thing I know is that the whole world is searching for the perfect system that can benefit everyone equally. Who knows if anyone will ever come close. Regardless, I am excited to know that the Ghanaian healthcare system is well received. That will make for positive attitudes (as positive as one can be in the hospital i guess) from patients as well as doctors which makes me happy because I work better with happy positive humans and all in all I think it will provide a good research environment for me.

Journal #8: "treatment"

As I think about my question lately I have been focusing on the word "treatment". At first it just meant the physical treatment that was administered to patients but upon discussing on Friday, the words came out of my mouth before I even realized it and I thought about the word on a different level. The treatments administered to patients are physical as well as emotional. The way doctors treat an individual according to their sex is the construct i am looking at and the whole time I have been developing this project for my senior thesis I have been thinking about the dire situation that so many people in this world experience. The lack of proper healthcare is more rampant than we know. Even in the United States. Politicians all claim to have the answers to this worldwide issue but when is the problem really going to be fixed? It seems like this extends to an even larger sphere in my mind because it is not only about people being able to get physical healthcare (i.e procedures, antibiotics, etc...) but it is about people being "treated" in both senses of the word as human beings, as equals among everyone. In my experience growing up, I have been taught to treat everyone with respect and love but I did not think about how differently I treat boys vs. girls, or even male professors vs. female professors. I don't know what the extent of my personal treatment toward different genders is but I know that it is there. I am going to make it a goal this week to pay attention to how I treat males vs. females in different situations to try to get a feel for this concept. Treatment in both ways, physical and emotional will affect this study so understanding my own concept of it is important.

Journal #6: History of healthcare in Ghana

                                                    
 A nation which has forgotten the quality of COURAGE, which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten. -JFK 

           I am not one to be huge on politics but I do believe that he speaks the truth... I feel like leaders today have lost sight of who founded this nation and what we stood for. Of course the founding fathers were not perfect and every human has their faults but it seems that we have lost a sense of courage in our politics. Our government is a huge part of who we are as a nation and has greatly affected the way our country functions and why we are the way we are. We talked more extensively about the history of Ghana today in class and how its government and politics have affected the country. Being a white American, growing up in the middle class suburbs, I have lived a life that seems to be 100% different from that of most Ghanaians. While I know that is not completely true, I do know that there are things I will need to understand and be aware of if I am to try to understand this culture and this people. The country they grew up in and call home is so different from mine. Upon discussing these things in class, I really started to ponder on how extensively each country is defined by their past and by the things which they have seen in their lives. Be it because of the government they have lived under (or lack of), or through the events that have greatly shaped the identity of their nation. Reflecting back, I realize how immense this impact has been on my own life and how much the history of my country has influenced who I am and what I believe in. My project will give me a particular understanding of healthcare and how it has been influenced by Ghanaian history. Thus, I did some research about the history of Ghana's healthcare systems since that will likely influence my project on a large scale:

      As is highlighted in the 2010 Half Yearly Report by Ghana Health Service, one of the main healthcare providers, a large concern within the healthcare system is gender. They want the assurance of equity in healthcare programs and Dr. Linda Vanatoo laid it out plainly when she said, "In all our activities in the region, gender issues were critically taken into consideration. During the year under review, staffs from the regional training unit of the regional health directorate undertook some training in gender mainstreaming. It is hoped that orientation would be given to key staff in the period ahead so that gender issues would be inculcated into health service planning and provision in the municipal." (pg.23) [i] Gender issues will no doubt be seen among doctor-patient interactions and thus i will be discovering the extent of it's influence among Ghanaian people further. I have chosen to do this through the lens of malaria. One reason being that malaria and HIV/AIDS both have a significant impact on the Ghanaian population thus, I have chosen to combine these two elements (gender and malaria) in the scope of my project. A large reason why I want to focus narrowly on those patients who have malaria is because of the large number of people who are infected or who have been infected with the disease...malaria is a huge threat to the population so researching within its scope can benefit medical discourse.

      Healthcare in Ghana is provided by the government and is mainly administered by the Ministry of Health and Ghana Health Services. Within those there are 5 levels: health posts (first level primary care for rural areas), health centers and clinics, district hospitals, and last, regional hospitals and tertiary hospitals. 35% of the hospitals are run by religious groups and healthcare is varied throughout the country. Rural areas are often left without modern healthcare so these patients rely mostly on traditional African medicine or must travel long distances to obtain care. Historically, village priests (fetish priests--name for witch doctors in Ghana) were the primary care givers. Herbal remedies and spiritual healing encompassed the extent of treatment. Western medicine was introduced to Cape Coast by Christian missionaries in the 19th century and it wasn't until after World War II that outside organizations like WHO (World Health Organization) and the United Nations Children's Fund jumped into provide additional care. Unlike the yesteryears, Ghana has established the National Health Insurance Scheme which was put into place when John Kufour, former President, wanted to get rid of the cash and carry system where money would have to be paid at each step of treatment. This system came into play in 1992 with the return of democratic rule to the country but wasn't passed into law until 2003. The Ghanaian healthcare system is constantly improving and has much potential and success as it continues to (hopefully) meet the specific needs of its citizens. 
     Because of the scope of the Ghanaian healthcare system and the history of the country that has influenced it, I anticipate that I will be seeing effects of their culture and background in the clinics and hospitals, even among the witch doctors that I come into contact with. Governmental policies and instruments will play a large role in the functionality of these places and the attitude that is found within the walls. I have not had much experience with the American medical system because I have lived a relatively healthy life but I have experienced urgent care and quick doctors visits and such so it will be interesting to reflect back on my own visits upon observing the experiences people have within the Ghanaian healthcare system. Since my project focuses on the doctor-patient relationship and how the patients gender affects the way doctors administer treatment to those who have malaria, it will be important that I understand the cultural context and historical background that is a basis for why things are the way they are within that which I observe. 

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[i] Vanotoo, Dr Linda. "Half Year Review Report: Ghana Health Service." Your Health,OurConcern.Web.4Oct.2011..