Comments on: Quote of the Week: Removing Barriers

By: Pamela Lynn

Pamela Lynn — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:33:19 +0000

Robin, thank you so much for sharing your mom’s wisdom in this article. This perspective is one that most people don’t remember to try on.

I am your newest subscriber!

Pamela

By: Janine McBee

Janine McBee — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:20:26 +0000

So true. The world would be a much better place if we spent more time looking for ways to help people find/achieve their dreams and goals in life. What pebbles, stones, boulders will you help someone remove today? Make a difference.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:58:04 +0000

Robin–Thanks for your shared passion and for ilustrating the many examples of how barriers get in the way of healthy living, not just abroad, but here in the USA too.

Some barriers are so interwoven into how we tick, that at first, it’s hard to recognize them and when you do: it can seem almost impossible to believe that we can remove them. This story in the NY Times today gave me hope on creative ways Americans are finding to remove barriers: http://nyti.ms/cbHo0l Let’s keep it coming.

By: Robin Payes

Robin Payes — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:42:00 +0000

This is so true, particularly in global health. Earthquake and rainy season wipe out roads in Haiti; long distances between health clinics and infirmity keeps people from seeking lifesaving medical help; children in Africa are needed for planting season and have to drop out of school. Under the Taliban, Afghan women died in massive numbers in childbirth because their lives were deemed insignificant.

But even in the US there are huge obstacles: cultural, economic, education. Many barriers are based on stigma – think of mental health – or environmental – think of the obesity epidemic. How does one remove these boulders that get in the way?

And whose job is it – the individual and their family? government? physicians? hospitals? insurance companies?
It’s not a simple dilemma when the needs are so great.

Removing obstacles: important perspective to introduce as we go to implement healthcare reform in this country. Thanks for posting, Alex.