A Little Progress

So at about 8:33 pm last Saturday night my wife told me she was proud of me...but not for some valiant reason like publicly rescuing a whale a la Costanza in Seinfeld. No, I was scrolling through the TV guide, she saw me pause when Shawshank Redemption popped up on TBS and against all tendencies, I kept scrolling...and then my wife who is--for reasons I struggle to grasp--not a fan of the film, says she was proud of that. I suppose you call it compromise, progress, dare I say evolution in my 25 year marriage. In healthcare in America circa 2025, we are making progress too: cancer survival rates are up, opioid prescribing is way down, and we are chipping away at mental health stigma. Despite an aging America and often painful loss framed by dementia in nearly half of older adults, enrollment in nursing programs is rising as the younger generation wants to do something with meaning, they want to contribute to something beyond themselves - 38% of 3,100 10 to 12 year olds said they want to be a nurse when they grow up, driven I'm sure by what they see and know - like that nurse who helps mom or dad or grampa.  But all that progress is often muted by the rising health deterioration from a nation that can't move because we love fast food, often since there isn't an affordable healthy market nearby, and even where there is. In 23 states, 35% of adults are obese - no state had such high prevalence 15 years ago. But we're making progress around investing in programs to get the younger generation moving and eating better. My youngest Tommy, 18, wouldn't read a book growing up, and now he reads ingredients and recipes and cooks his own supper with things like basil and peppers. He makes enough for his sister, which makes me proud....or as my wife says, "gives me hope." There will be setbacks but of course that’s what makes progress so great. Perhaps all of our healthcare investment in things like therapy, wellness, remote monitoring, nutrition and novel medications are redemption for past mistakes, like in how we talked about people and how we cared for them and paid for their health. Like Andy DuFresne said at Shawshank, "I guess it comes down to a simple choice really--get busy living or get busy dying...because remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."