Anti-Vaccine Death Count website

This is the website that I talked about in class about the anti-vaccine death count.  I originally remembered it as being directly related to Jenny McCarthy, but it is actually not focused on her like I thought it was.

http://www.antivaccinebodycount.com/Anti-Vaccine_Body_Count/Home.html

Health Care Communication Ethics

This chapter defines Health care communication ethics as "the study of communication practices within the broad domain of health care, from patient/profesional interaction to institutional communication questions about health" (192). It is basically about the interaction with people within the healthcare system, and with the clients. As well as the interaction we have with family/friends that are dealing with sickness ."Health care communication ethics protects and promotes care, human caring of one for another, in a professional context and in all contexts where decisions affect the quality of life and all, too often life, itself" (199). It also "seeks to protect and promote care - care is the communicative action or practices that links the good of responsiveness to the Other" (199).

This chapter made me think of my own Mom that in 2011 found out that she had breast cancer. She really pointed out how she felt attached to the nurse that gave her the chemotherapy everyday and how much better it felt for her going through her treatment. Is. It is very important to make the patient to feel comfortable in the healthcare system. In addition it became also very important for myself that she felt comfortable in the treatment procesS. I have also seen the importance of healthcare communication from the other side when I worked with elderly care, number one is to make your patients feel comfortable but most importantly be able to make the patients family feel comfortable with the car you are providing... This is not often an easy task as they often struggle seeing their Spurs going through hard times, and many struggle feeling comfortable with the care provided regardless.

Chapter 11: Health Care Communication Ethics

As stated in the textbook, health care communication ethics "protects and promotes the good of responsive hope and the good of care for the Other in meeting moments of robust health, normal difficulties, the tragic, and the inevitable (191). One aspect of this chapter that is introduced in the very beginning that intrigued me was the difference between optimism and hope, where Arnett says hope "endures even in the face of disappointed expectations, while optimism "fades with the reality that life does not grant one's demands" (192). It's interesting to look at those definitions and see a completely different meaning and understanding.

Relating to the course topic, it's apparent that health care is obviously extremely important topic for every person to be concerned with. One example that really sticks out to me is my aunt who is dying of breast cancer right now. My first thought is, well everything in the end will be okay, it's going to work out. And then it sinks in, that patients with stage 4 breast cancer don't have a high rate of survival. I think one important part of the debate between optimism and hope is that with optimism, you have blind faith; not completely seeing reality. On the other hand, being hopeful, you understand reality and everything negative or positive outcome that may surface.

Healthcare Communication Ethics

Chapter 11 discusses healthcare communication ethics, and the protection and promotion of "the good of responsive hope, and the good of care for the Other in meeting moments of robust health, normal difficulties, the tragic, and the inevitable" (Arnett, Fritz, Bell, 191). This ethic consists of four praxis, but the two I would like to focus on are "responsiveness" and "care". Our book states that responsiveness is the "responsibility that meets the call of the Other, even when the call is unwanted" (191), and care is "a human answer to the call of the Other, a willingness to meet and attend to someone rather than oneself" (191).

I think care and responsiveness go hand in hand, in that if you really do care about a person, whether it be a family member, a friend, or whathaveyou, then in times of great need, specifically health-related needs of another, then you should be willing to lend a hand, without hesitation or condition. Responsiveness entails being timely as well, so when you receive a call to action regarding a love one's health, then you shouldn't take so long in addressing them. Taking forever to respond is a direct reflection on how much you actually care about the other, and I think that if someone doesn't respond in a timely matter to a person's needs, especially if it's a dire health situation, then it's a clear indication of the level of care that person has for the other.

When epidemics or potential epidemics around the world surface, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) waste no time in responding to the issues. The movie Contagion is a great example of responsiveness and care as described in our book. In the film, an extremely potent pig/bat virus (called MEV-1) becomes a wordwide epidemic and the CDC rushes to try to find its origins. Both CDC and government officials talk about various possibilities, including a bioterrorist attack. But the film in its entirety shows the CDC's willingness to research the virus and try to provide a vaccine as quickly as possible.

Experiences with ethics in healthcare

"Health care communication ethics protects and promotes the good of responsive hope and the good and care for the Other..." (p 191)

I agree that this is an essential thing to consider in the realm of health care, especially when issues of severe health issues arise. I do, however, think that doctors often forget it and get wound up in the world of treating medicine as a business model: ill patient in, healthy patient out. They forget to acknowledge that patients have emotional needs and are a holistic being, not just their sick body part.

Because of that, they often fail at responsiveness, treating the sick person like a burden, like an annoying task the way someone who does data entry may consider an extra file at the end of the day. I know this firsthand because I have a chronic health issue, and have met doctors with varying degrees of bedside manner and responsiveness to holistic need. Some are to be commended, others have no business working with patients; they think they know better than the person who is sick about how they feel. A physician's response to the "other" is what makes or breaks them as a quality health care provider. They also sometimes forget that they need to communicate with the person as a person and treat the illness, not just treat the illness.

Health Care Communication Ethics

In this chapter, two of the four praxis of health care communication stood out to me. It was apparent that the topics of responsiveness and care were very important in addition to the more self-explanatory definitions of health care communication and health. Responsiveness is described as "health care communication ethics understands health not in what happens to us, but in our response to that which meets us" (p.195). Our immediate health often times rests in our hands and we are able to preserve it and possibly bring it back to normality. Although there are going to be times where our own health is not in our control, and we must turn to health care professionals to nurse us back to full health. Responses such as these are crucial and our own health is something that must be taken seriously. The concept of care is defined as "the communicative action or practice that links to the good of responsiveness to the Other" (p.199). Although care may seem like a simply defined word, it is the main driving force of health care communication and the assistance of those who need it. It is caring for one another within a professional context and rests on the question "how do we provide communication that cares for another?" (p.199).

Throughout my life I have been receiving care for illnesses which my parents or myself could diagnose/cure. I have had a few minor surgeries, but I have never really been treated for anything more severe than strep throat. Whenever my immediate health seemed to be in question, I have always tried to respond quickly and effectively. Response to health issues is crucial to the process of being nursed back to full strength, It is up to us to be the first responder to any health abnormalities and we must place our trust in the health care professionals. It is the job of health care professionals to provide us with care that will assist us in the best way possible. This can be difficult for some people who may feel that they are not receiving the correct treatment, or treatment that may be detrimental to their life in general. Fortunately, I have never felt that the health care systems I have used have ever been working against me, and they have always had the best interests of my family and myself in mind. There may be times where major health decisions may be in your hands, and the person receiving care may not be able to make them. This brings up the questions of "how do we make these decisions?" and "where should we seek advice?" to ensure that the proper health care decision is made.

Health Care Communication Ethics

As the author stated in the textbook, health care communication ethics “seeks to protect and promote care- care is the communicative action or practices that links to the good of responsiveness to the Other." (p. 199) I feel a strong connection between communication and health care because we provide care under our communication ethics. It differs from other topics such as organizational and public discourse since the position and relationship of provider and receiver is apparent. The key here is that the family, patient and health care providers need to understand their responsiveness and follow how they are supposed to behave. No matter how serious the patient’s ill is, their moral expectation is important. I found a good example of health care issues from the textbook. It is unethical to ask “how are you?” to a patient carrying oxygen with him/her to wherever he/she goes. The phrase “how are you?” is often used in any general situations, but we need to know the patients are more likely to be sensitive and negative because of their health condition. Thinking other words instead of “how are you?” is what health care communication ethics teaches us.

Making patient feel safe is one of the major roles of health care service. What I have experienced when I went to a hospital 3 years ago was uncomfortable treatment from the health care providers. Despite I had a high fever, I could not tell my condition to the nurse in English. She told me to lie on a bed in a small room separated by curtain and took blood probably for a test. I was worried because it took for over one hour and I didn’t know what was going on and called her to tell let me go home. The hospital provided a translation service for patients concern language barrier, but it was not helpful at all. Intercultural communication ethics could be applied in the situation.

Health Care Communication Ethics

As Ronald C. Arnett defined, the concept "Health care communication ethics" concerns about "...is to
protect and promote a sense of gratitude and knowledge of a final freedom—our response to health, its absence, and the eventuality of death."(P 194), Talking about the definition of health care communication ethics, it is "the study of communication practices within the broad domain of health care, from patient/professional interaction to institutional communication questions about health."(P 192), and we should clarify the definition of "health" in health care communication and figure out the significant parts of health care communication to protect and promote health care communication ethics.
As "Health care is grounded in caring"(Dougherty, 1996, pp. 51–52), health is essentially a concept saying "Health is a term that requires an adjective for us to know what kind or state of health is present at a given moment"(P 194) and "Health care communication ethics understands health not in what happens to us, but in our response to that which meets us"(P 195).  Meanwhile, personally, the most important in protecting and promoting health care communication ethics is responsiveness, and to improve the effectiveness of responsiveness, "..., one looks for ways to respond to the illness in the larger context of a life, not just for answers to 'fix' ill health."(P 195).  In brief, responsiveness is "the responsibility for doing the task of health care communication ethics"(P 196).
As I am taking a course concerning about mass communication and public health this semester, the deepest feeling for me is the interaction between the patients, or the public and medical professions.  As we can always see, there are non-profit advertisements and posters encouraging us to pay attention on some specific diseases in daily life.  From my perspective, there sometimes lacks enough description of these diseases and I feel confused about why they push us to pay special attention on these diseases.  Meanwhile, when we come to the hospital, the most discouraging part for non-native speakers are those medical terminologies, and under this type of situation, we really need a professional and easy understanding of what happened on us.  That is the significance of health care communication, and its ethics protects and promote "caring" of us, which helps us effectively in understanding our health conditions and promoting the active communication between patients and medical professions.

Health Care Communication Ethics- Chapter 11

Within this chapter and under health care communication ethics there were two things that stood out to me. First, the book states that "optimism urges us to assume that all gallant efforts toward the reclaiming of health will secure success. However, the human condition does not support such unfounded optimism." (191) It goes on to say that if we are to understand health care communication ethics we need to broaden our perspective and understanding of what health is and that it goes beyond optimism to a place of hope. That it is there to protect and promote the good of hope in all times and forms of health, whether it be good health, regular health issues, irregular health issues, or tragic health issues. I was intrigued by the differentiation between optimism and hope. "Optimism falls prey to a consumer mentality of demand for life to conform to one's wishes; hope is grounded in the same desire but, additionally, possesses a gritty sense of work and conviction situated within the realization that not all hopes actualize themselves." (192) There is a clear distinction between optimism and hope in health care communication ethics and is something that I never thought of. Optimism is something that fades while hope continues through it all. This alines with the second thing that stood out to me and is what the book calls "the final freedom; the stand we take toward a fate we no longer can change". (194) I think that stand can be said to possess optimism and/or hope. It is the place that we plant our feet and deal with all the different types of health that we experience and in the end death. Health care communication ethics protects and promotes the way that we deal with being human and within that the emotions that we feel that are involved with health. This is definitely not the way that I thought about health care communication ethics, I always thought about it as just the ethics of how patients were treated and the communication practices of health care professionals. After reading this chapter I see that it is much more than that. I feel that an example of these things could be taken from when my grandmother passed away. Optimism was with us when she went to the doctor, thinking that it would be something minor, that faded when she was diagnosed with lung cancer and only given a short amount of time. At this point she declared her "final freedom", she took a stand and made choices based on a fate that she could no longer change. She choose to go home and do hospice and be with her family, somewhere she loved and was comfortable, instead of in a hospital with drugs and fighting to the end. Our optimism for a good diagnosis changed with her decision, to a hope that she wouldn't suffer and would go quietly the way that she wanted. We were no longer expecting something of her health situation but hoping for a different response, knowing that what was to come would come and that "not all hopes actualize themselves". (194) Do you think that health care communication ethics is more about the patients and people living in the health situation than it is the professionals after reading points from the chapter?

Black Lives Matter Protest

Dialogic ethics is a comprehensive examination of the disciplinary study of communication ethics that begins with major conceptual framing of the theoretical diversity of communication ethics. Further, democratic communication ethics is defined as a public “process for discussion of ideas, customs, and rights, protecting and promoting the good of collaborative decision- making” (pg. 44). The democratic ethic in the field of communication is a "public" process for intertwining public mass collaboration on ideas, customs, and rights.

            Throughout the chapter, the author emphasizes that the idea about communication ethics ties the notion of democratic ethics shaping a public speaking platform and later working in interpersonal and organization communication. The connection to organizational communication rests with the idea for democratic participation in the shaping of organizational structures. Including habits to articulate procedures to follow to ensure democratic communication: “(a) the habit of search-openness to new ideas; (b) the habit of justice- seeking factual accuracy; (c) the habit of preferring public to motivations- putting concern for the public good over concern for private preference; (d) the habit of respect for dissent- democracy is renewed through learning from difference” (pg. 48). What are ways to articulate procedures to ensure democratic communication? How would one apply this to a protest?

            For example, since 2013 an international activist movement, originating in the African American community campaigns against violence towards black people. The movement called Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests deaths surrounding black people that stem from the killings by law enforcement officials. More specially, in Minneapolis over the past few weeks BLM has protested the killing of Jamar Clark, who was shot by law enforcement officers. BLM activists who have been protesting the death of Jamar Clark have stopped traffic on interstate 94, protested outside of Minneapolis police headquarters, and laid on the cross-streets of 50^th & France. Activists use mechanisms to raise awareness to their movement of racial profiling, police brutality and racial inequality. Our countries is founded on the right to free speech and expression, but are the protests conducted by BLM drawing the right kind of attention to their cause? How would one implement the procedures used by the authors to ensure democratic communication ethics? What can BLM do to raise more awareness surrounding their cause or are they raising enough attention?

Chapter 11 - Health Care

I think the emphasis on care is especially important in this chapter about health care communication. The book points out that "health care communication ethics seeks to protect and promote care - care is the communicative action or practice that links the good of responsiveness to the Other" (199). The authors continue to write about how when people have fallen ill they are vulnerable and it is important to cater to the needs of each individual patient. I like how they say health care communication ethics should not become a technique that does not work with each individual.

I have had a few surgeries in my life and have seen varying degrees of attention to care. With one of my doctors he was a specialized surgeon and it did not seem as though patient care was at the forefront of his mind. I have heard this is common with surgeons as their main focus really should be on the ability to successfully complete a surgery and there are others, perhaps nurses or general physicians, who spend more time with conscious patients. The common interaction with patients seems to make a large impact on the way they deal with individuals seeking help. My surgeon didn't need to interact with me much overall and a good amount of the time we did spend together I was unconscious on the table. I think this goes to show how even within the health care field, different positions can mean different amounts of interaction with patients and therefore different levels of care.

Chapter 11

In chapter 11, the idea of health care communication ethics is discussed.  This was one of the chapters that I was most interested in reading, as I feel there are very strict codes of ethics that should be followed in the health care industry.  The part of the textbook that I found to be very telling about the health care industry was the idea of responsiveness.  The book states, "The key for a health care provider, the patient, and the family is responsiveness" (195).  This is very important to think about with the fact that health shapes the life we live, and accordingly need to make responses and adapt to these ever changing circumstances.

In my own life, I have seen the struggle with cancer within close family.  The whole key to this dilemma was the response that these friends took.  When learning about receiving the cancer, the response taken was to make sure to follow the treatment plan.  Throughout the time battling cancer, the treatment plan changed several times as the cancer had also changed.  These responses are important as the act in a way that betters the good of the health care communication ethics.

Chapter 11

Even though health care communication is not in my daily life, I turn to them when situations become to hard to handle. In order for a health care professional to speak effectively they must use the ideas from page 198  "for all of us when existence simply reminds us that in such moments our final freedom rests with how we respond" They not only take care of people physically, but they support patients and grieving family members mentally with their communication skills. They value the multiplicity of goods that each patient values. 

Recently, I was not sasitfied with the way a health care provider told my family of the condition of my grandmother. She lives in a very expensive assisted living home that caters to her wellbeing most times of the day. She has had Alzheimer's for 13 years and living productively is hard for her. One day a worker informed my aunt that she was not doing good at all and that it her death would happen very soon.That really struck an emotional nerve with our family and we found ourselves trying to find the resources to help. After testing we found out that nothing was wrong and that ultimately she was very happy. This was years ago and it was pretty discerning that she essentially diagnosed my grandmother without any knowledge or proof Within the situation. She did not value the final freedom response of healthcare providers. Her negative response afterwards was not helpful and hopefully she could review the healthcare communication ethics.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11 discusses the topic of health care communication ethics. Health care communication includes patient to professional interactions or institutional concerns. The underlying Good that is being promoted is overall public health(193). The promotion of health can be a difficult task, but it is important to maintain the public or patient's view on the institution. Doctors are influencing physical health, but also influence mental health. The public/patient can be negatively affected by negative news or wording when dealing with health issues. It is important for doctors to keep the patients or public positive so their mental health isn't negatively affected. Trust is also a communication ethic that is important in health care. There is a much better relationship between doctor and patient/public when each can be trusted.
Health care communication ethics illustrates why a family doctor is beneficial. I had a family doctor growing up through high school. The doctor was the same as my parents and they had me see the same one. My parents never had an issue and trusted this doctor. Living in a small town, we were able to communicate with our doctor in public as well. This helped build trust and a friendly relationship. In turn, it was easy to tell that this doctor was looking out for our best of health, just as a friend would. We trust our doctor, and in return, generally trust the health care institution.

Chapter 11

One thing I found very interesting about health care communication ethics was the difference between hope and optimism. I always thought of these concepts as the same, but this book elaborates a lot on how they are different which I found very interesting. I always strive to be as optimistic as possible but this book really sheds light on why that sometimes is not good. "the demand of optimism is expectation"(192). With constantly having high expectations for any aspect of life you end up being disappointed some of the time when you do not reach those expectations. With this being said sometimes it is better to have hope where you are hoping for the best, but also preparing for the worst.

One memory that stuck in my mind when reading this chapter was my uncle. He passed away from cancer about 8 years ago. "Optimism fades when faced with the reality that life does not grant one's demand"(192). Early on in his process of overcoming this disease I was very optimistic about what the future would hold for my uncle and that he would make a full recovery. When things started to turn for the worst, my optimism started to fade and was met with the harsh reality of the situation and that my expectations were not going to be met. After this I started to become more hopeful of the situation, hoping and praying for the best but also preparing for the worst.

When discussing hope, responsiveness was another topic that was very important. It's good to take care of yourself and your health but its also important to take care of others and be responsive to their needs. An important quality that makes us human is empathy towards one another. When helping others to the best of your ability it allows you to be more hopeful towards the situation that is happening. One thing I do as an example for responsiveness is asking my friends how they are doing and giving good advice to help them in their time of need whether it be small or big things affecting their life.

Health care

Health care communication ethics is "the study of communication practices within the broad domain of health care, from patient/professional interaction to institutional communication questions about health" (192). In other words, health care communication is looking at how people in the medical field navigate and interact with people in the workplace and clients. The main point of the health care system is to provide assistance or care to someone in need. However, depending on the culture, the health care system can be very different amongst different groups of people. In addition, care has a variety of meanings and many people will view what it means to be caring differently. In other words, culture is a big factor when looking at health care systems and why they are set up a certain way.

Next, with the variety of health care systems in the world, the variations of what care is are endless. For example, in a lot of European countries, a universal health care system is a popular system that seems to work well. However, in the U.S. the health care system is set up much differently and people have to pay for health insurance or have a very big bill. When one considers all the cultural factors would it be possible for the U.S. to have a universal health care system like Europe? Typically speaking, in the U.S. people define care as providing some form of assistance to another person. However, a lot of people are against a universal health care system because they don't want taxes to go up. It is ironic that people see money as something that is more important than someone's health and possibly their own health. When looking at American culture, money is an important and valuable aspect that many people see as a status symbol. Hence, the characteristics of the U.S. culture display why the health care system is the way it is, not eliminating the fact that it could change. Finally, culture is a large factor that contributes to health care systems along with peoples values within that culture. The important thing to remember is that a lot can be learned by studying other cultures and a lot of knowledge can be gained.   

Chapter 11 Health Care Communication Ethics

I lost a good friend almost one year ago to cancer.  She suffered from "the monster" a nuero-blastoma brain cancer that was difficult to treat and even if successfully thwarted 99% of time reoccurred or too the patients life during treatment by slowly suffocating the brain.  She was 49 when she died and she was a mom of 4, 2 boys and 2 girls.

The part of the book's chapter that spoke the most to me was the passage on Technique to Tenacity.  The book spoke of the labor of care in the the middle of frustration, pain, fatigue and finding an engine that could do all of the care.  That you have to find your "why".

That spoke to me the most, because on almost every one of my visits with Shelly she would ask me "Why I was here with her, and not with my own family?" At first I was offended, "I am here because you are my friend. I love you."  She would respond with "Well you are my sister's friend first, not mine." Which was true, her sister Melissa is one of my closest friends in the world, and I only knew Shelly because of Melis.

Then when she would ask I would answer honestly, "I am only doing what I hope someone would do for me Shel."  Which again was true, I am also a mom to 4, 2 boys and 2 girls, what made Shelly any different from me?  Why her and not me?  There wasn't answer that made sense.

The "tenacity of care" that Shelly's family developed was incredible,  There was not going to ever be a sufficient answer to the why or how could this have happened, so we moved into care giving mode, They work on the why and care giving was balanced on the ultimate question of how?  How will we live without her?  How will the kids always know her love?  How will we all as a group encourage her to go when the time comes and not be selfish with the desire for her to not leave, because all of us agreed that it was too soon.

The book spoke of "sometimes this sense of "why" comes from theories and ideas, but most often it comes from a human face that reminds us of the importance of finding the tenacity to meet the demands before us."  Taking care of Shelly over 16 months and being there for the goodbye and farewell meant we needed tenacity, courage and honesty.  Never once did we speak of events in the distant future and say things like "You will be there." Not one time did we speak of her in the past tense while she was still here.

The book speaks of health care communication ethics being a place where you are in the darkness and there seems no light yet, in the "just doing" you have a sense of health and hope that life could go on after the loss.  I spent every weekend with Shelly and that light of feeling like we left nothing unsaid and we didn't focus on the inevitable and just enjoyed the day we had in front of us keeps me happy today, it was the outcome we expected with the communication that was needed to make life livable again.

11/18/15 Provost Email

                I am currently in a student group that focuses heavily on social justice related problems within the world, but even more specifically in Minneapolis. This group has made me see power holders more critically, but it has also made me realize that people in power do what they have to do in order to maintain that power. I have definitely seen this power struggle in the university provost’s latest email. There are still problems with serious racism running rampant in the world, and the recent events in Missouri sparked up another conversation. Students on campus were outrage and organized themselves in order to show support for other students across the country. This was all fine until the university saw this as a problem they didn’t plan for. Naturally, an email is sent out trying to get power back.

                First, the provost tries to show her support for students on behalf of the entire university staff, but having this email sent out must have angered people who tried to organize themselves without the university’s help. She used language like “held useful conversations” and “an obligation to address this problem.” This was all fine, but it definitely made it feel like student protests were burdening the university. In the textbook in the chapter about organizational communication ethics there is a passage that reads, “The uninformed member simply does not know enough about the organization’s missions and purpose to articulate them to self or others (142).” In relation to this, I think the university believed that students were completely oblivious to what the university needed. To an extent this may be true, but the email sent out was worded in such a way that made students seem like an entity that needs to be contained. Hence why the university set up very specific meeting places and times to talk about the universal problem. It was a very interesting approach to the recent events, and I’m not quite sure that the students within this university appreciated being contained on an issue they feel so passionately about.

Chapter 11: Health Care Communication Ethics

Health care communication ethics is a notion of communication that is not commonly thought of in our everyday lives. For me, at least, I have never truly thought about the way health care professionals communicate. In reading chapter 11 of our textbook, however, I have realized that the way health care professionals interact with patients is incredibly important. On page 198 of the textbook there is a quote that I think is crucial to this topic. “…for all of us when existence simply reminds us that in such moments our final freedom rests with how we respond.” This really hits home the idea that health can be a scary thing, but mindset helps us get through it. Health care providers have to constantly maintain the “good” that is care. They need to care for their patients both physically and mentally. A person may not able to control what their body is doing, but they can control how they think about it. Illness can be devastating, but having doctors, nurses, and family that take care of your mental well-being can make illness easier to get through.

                Right after I was born my grandma died at the age of 47.  She had cancer for seven years, and it finally took its toll on her. My mom was 21 at the time, and she had seen it coming for years, but she still couldn’t handle it well. She never anticipated that when she had her first kid she wouldn’t have her mom there to help her. However, my grandma had a positive mindset throughout the entire process. Even though she knew it wouldn’t end well, her doctors and family kept a positive mindset in hopes that this would help her get through this with less mental pain. For ethics in health care communication the notion that “No matter what meets us—whether joy, sadness, or sorrow—the human being has one final freedom: our response (198).” This was so true for my family, and I can tell that a positive response helped my family get through it.

Provost's Email

What I thought was interesting about the Provost’s email is that it talked a great deal about recent events, yet no event was specifically mentioned by name. I personally feel like this is an ineffective communication tactic; in order to support or decry something, I feel it needs to be mentioned by name so the audience can clearly understand the message. The email felt more of an obligation than a sincere attempt to reconcile students with the events of Jamal Clark’s shooting, Syrian Refugees, Missouri University’s racist practices and the terrorist attacks in Paris.

The email goes on to state that the University has “an obligation to address these problems, openly, respectfully, and together” yet, these problems are not being addressed. Since the email was sent on November 18, there has been no follow-up, nothing communicating what has been or is planned on being done by the University to effectively address the University’s stance.

Lastly, I find it ironic that the email states “we all want the world to be a better place,” but it doesn’t describe what that entails. Those opposed to refugees, those who consistently supported racism at the University of Missouri, the cops who unapologetically racially profile and shoot people and so forth, don’t they also commit these actions because they too “want the world to be a better place?” I believe that communication ethics literacy is best represented with a clear message, about a clear subject with clear intentions of the good at hand.

Healthcare Communication Ethics

The most striking part of this chapter for me comes from a labor of care. The authors say that “the labor of care require[s] admission of the illness” and that “it takes engagement of the labor of care to admit illness and then to take proper action” (Arnett, Fritz, and Bell, P 201). Since the labor of care is defined as the necessity of one’s identity, it is interesting to see that to effectively communicate one must first be true to oneself, as it is only then that one is capable of organically communicating with another.

The past couple of weeks have been extremely challenging for me, not only because of the stress of balancing school, work and married life, but also health wise. As a result I had to make the decision to skip a blog post and a response, making me lose 3 points. This is of course not ideal, but it was a necessity for me. I had to admit to myself that my health had to come first, and in order for me to be successful in the future I had to make sacrifices now. This was also an admission that led me to communicate more effectively by missing those assignments. If I had done those assignments in the state I was in, they would have been valueless, and would not have contributed to the thread we have been working on for months.