Black Lives Matter: Healthcare

Lab 5: Audio story: Understanding Health issues

You can listen to the podcast here!

Photo from Empowering Women Now

Today’s tweet is about all the sides of the black lives matter movement including systemic racism within the healthcare system. Out of the many injustices constantly taking place within the black community, systemic racism is right behind police brutality. 

A recent research article from 2016 discusses the research done to see the false beliefs about biological differences as well as the perception of pain. The results aim to discover the source of disparities between black and white patients. Most of these perceived perceptions date back to slavery. Two studies were conducted to see who believed these false perceptions, study one without medical training, and study two with medical training (medical students). The results from study one with 121 participants, 73% believed at least one of the false perceptions. On the other hand, in study two with over 418 participants, 50% believed them.

This study is a primary example as to why so many injustices are happening in the healthcare system and it needs to be addressed.

Forget Me Not: Life with Dementia

Lab 4: Health Story

Sitting in the comfort of her senior living home, Sue Hill sits with her idle mind on Oct. 14th, 2020. "She usually is very quiet and nods her head. Even when talking to her she may say 'yes, sir' or laugh," George Hill said. Photo credit: Marcela Sifuentes

Sue Hill is a 70-year-old woman who suffers from Dementia, type 2 diabietes and is legally blind. Sue is mainly taken care of by her husband, George Hill, 71, and on occasion their nine children or 30 grandchildren.

Having a laugh, George (left) and Sue (right) Hill enjoying each other's company in their senior living home on Oct. 14th, 2020. "She doesn't remember a lot of things but she has her moments," George Hill said. Photo credit: Marcela Sifuentes

Since she was diagnosed, George has been taking care of his wife in their senior living home. George cooks, cleans, and takes her out of the house for walks or drives around the neighborhood.

For over 30 years, Sue has suffered from type 2 diabetes and has been steady. However, in 2015 she was diagnosed with Cataracts and Glaucoma. Due to the doctors' order, Cataracts surgery was performed first before glaucoma, but it was too late.

Reminiscing the good times, pictures of Sue Hill in her 50’s attending her daughter, Kim Sifuentes, 21, wedding on Nov. 22, 1998. The other picture, Sue is holding her three year old granddaughter, Marcela Sifuentes on a trip to Disney world. Photo by Marcela Sifuentes.

In 2018, Sue and George Hill were involved in a car accident that led to a visit to the hospital. Sue and George were both left unharmed, however, the visit brought the couple other news.

Sue had transient ischemic attacks, mini strokes, which the doctors believed cused her brain to shrink. The doctors also believed the car accident triggered something as well and diagnosed her with Dementia.

Taking in the scenery, George (left) and Sue Hill (right) stop on their building walk on Oct.14th, 2020.  Due to the changing weather, George and Sue Hill walked indoors in their senior living building. Photo by Marcela Sifuentes.

As Sue’s condition progressed she began forgetting, talking to people who were not there, and she went through a phase of not eating or drinking. Yet, Sue was not alone she had her big loving family to help take care of her.

Recently celebrating their 52 year anniversary on Oct 12th, George (left) and Sue Hill (right) hold hands in their senior living home on Oct. 13th, 2020. “I still love her, I love her very very much,” said George Hill. Photo credit: Marcela Sifuentes

Family Friendly Oakland County

Lab 2: Questions that Matter

Image by LittleFox-MM from DeviantArt

According to the recent census, 235,393 people between the ages of 20 to 34 reside in Oakland county. This the average age of adults think of starting a family. 

With this in mind, my partner and I took a look at the recent census to look at a few key factors like housing, diversity, and employment that could possibly affect one’s decision to start and raise a family in Oakland county. 

My partner and I took a look at the recent census and did some research on the possible pros and cons of living in Oakland county.

Based on our findings, we noticed Oakland County had a significant rise in employment rates over the past couple of years. We also noticed that the cost of living in Oakland County is about -2.5% less than the national average.

Graphics from Sperling's Best Places

A graphic depicting Oakland County's cost of living.

However, there is a lack of diversity in Oakland county. Specifically, 13.6% black, 5.6% Asian, 0.3% Native American, 3.5%hispanic, 2.2% two or more races. There are 38,120 vacant housing units available within Oakland county which begs the question if it’s really a great place to start a family?

That being said, crowdsourcing took place to see what people were thinking when it came to their future family. A face to face approach was used rather than a social media approach.

Yet, we believed the findings would’ve been more clear and beneficial to us if we used social media like Twitter or Facebook. 

Our findings showed people wanted a safe community with low crime rates and good schools. 

Although we didn’t entirely miss the mark, with the findings from crowdsourcing, we were able to reframe our ideas for a story people want and deserve.