I’ve been seeing or phoning a dear friend every day for the last few months, in the hospital for the last six weeks. I’ve never spent such constant time there and have learned much. I am not here to complain about any of the great service the overworked staff provide, but about the lack of breadth in our modern version of ‘healthcare’.
My wife, Judy, being a retired teacher, has an option in her health care package, to avail herself and spouse to a message about every six weeks. We both look forward to it so very much. Two days ago was such a lucky day, Judy getting a full hour’s worth and just over half an hour for me. What a pleasure.
I’m in pretty good shape for an old fart but she still finds muscles that are knotted, that relax and breathe more easily with just a bit of attention. I swear that getting that ‘hands-on’ treatment improves my mind and spirits, along with the obvious health benefits.
As humans, we’re built to respond to the physical. We’re born that way. Touch is important. Muscles respond to activity, whether by ourselves or from ‘the outside’. We all know this. Yet, in hospitals, where we put people who need the most attention, we give them nothing in this realm. We touch them only when we’re moving them, often inflicting even more pain. How wonderfully it would be received if there were people to just rub feet, shoulders, or heads, even when the patient couldn’t move at all – something to just help them to relax, to be treated as a living body and not just a consumer of pills.
How can we think of ourselves as advanced and modern and have our health tools be so limited? Why is anything related to ‘touch’ deemed a frill or overtly sexual? It displays a stupidity that is difficult to explain. And so easily changed. Why not?
I’ll just keep on rubbing my friend’s feet, getting ‘looks’ from other patients and some of the staff. She loves it and you don’t have to have a degree of some kind to do it. It’s called common sense and friendship. And human contact that affects the health of the giver and receiver. Again, why not?
Dr. Anthony here, just trying to make life better, for me and others.
