Nadine Burke's TED Talk on ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and the link to poor health and shortened life span

Fasten your seatbelt (or at least read the transcript and let it sink in for a few days...and longer.) Google the TED Talk by Nadine Burke. Some other resources to know about is a CA Protective Parents Association site, The Battered Mothers Custody Conference (which will be held April 26th-28th, 2019) in Albany NY.

Getting curious about one's own life journey, one's health and living environment, and other factors to think about. I am hearing another talk that 'popped up' after Dr. Burke's...Rishi Manchada, What Makes You Sick? Look Upstream.

He speaks about a more holistic view of what is impacting a person, and what can help prevent the problem initially or keep it from getting worse. We need team players, 'helpers or doulas', community health workers and advocates from many disciplines.

When a zip code determines one's chances for good health and learning, we need to pay closer attention. The factors of abuse seem to know no bounds, so there's plenty to work toward to improve most people's chances.

Living by a park and getting help will likely upscale one's chances for health and care. Some say our zip code is shaping our genetic code (epigenetics.) So all of this Matters...in case you didn't quite realize that since no professionals or even teachers or daycare workers are helping people assemble a Screen Team.

Many systems are set up to exclude simple solutions (and many other 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policies to not pay attention to the bigger issues impacting a person's health because their system did not have a way to factor that into a care plan in a meaningful way.)

Unfortunately more laws may set standards which may start or increase the reasons a person would be removed from their home and put in supervised settings,whether due to a legal or medical issue. That might include childcare, custody or divorce matters, mental health, aging, or illness concerns. Let's not be naive that 'just hoping to fix things won't have unintended consequences.'

The corruption in many social service and protective services for children, elderly and others in need of help can be yet another level of difficulty most of the public has not really considered, particularly as affecting someone in their circles or themselves.

Let's get clear that this doctor is creating Health Begins... by creating a sense of clinicians being more competent and ready to factor the living and working conditions of people to determing their health and care needs. He says we need 25K more 'upstream helpers.'

I have been feeling many of these things for decades as well, so feel validated in my hunches and efforts. Ideally more people can work locally and help people in their neighborhood to understand what is needed to be capable, caring citizens. Community Health Workers would be key to all of this outreach.

More patients can self-advocate as well. In terms of affording care for elderly or others in need for instance, it would be helpful for all doctors and advocates to encourage people to plan well in advance for having a Legal Caregiver Agreement in place before care is performed for funds (immediate or from future funds such as the sale of a home) to meet guidelines legitimately. Learning basics of Title 19, Medicare and Medicaid should be taught in grade school and high school.

Those students ideally could have basic conversations with others in their family and community, not to give legal or medical advice but rather to help people learn about the importance of consulting with skilled Elder Law Attorneys or other qualified advocates. What reasonable fees are can be ascertained by comparing a few rates, checking with Legal Aid help in one's state or other agencies for aging or one's local hospital and online.

The other key pieces need to be clearly written down in a timely manner and notarized with two witnesses include having a Power of Attorney to make decisions about financial matters as needed if one becomes incapacitated and End of Life Decisions (about whether to have a feeding tube, breathing tube, be revived or have serious medical treatment if one cannot make those decisions, and ideally having them clearly spelled out in advance, such as in an Advanced Directive.) These are lots of serious terms but ones that every 16 -year -old  (if not youngers) or other competent person would want to have some say in.

The next TED Talk that popped up is by Eric Dishman is to make health care a coordinated team support. He wept the day he graduated from team of Legacy which trained him to care for himself at home with family and friends. More home-based care will be the new normal. Smart teams are needed to make progress.

These are some of his main points. It's very important for everyone to feel as capable as the next person to figure out their own options and form their own support teams.... We can all do better. I would hope that would include more clarity about nutrition, exercise, and wellness...