“Life is a polarized activity, a dynamic polarity” – Georges Canguilhem
Going far beyond an individual’s choice of behavior (or choices, if the individual has more than one option to choose from), the pandemic provides example after example of how a person’s living situation can affect their health. . Life.
Health, as we know, is socially determined. Factors known as “social determinants of health” influence beyond the biological processes of a disease. As is well known and verifiable, access to health insurance, food safety, home security, transportation, personal safety, structural racism, and other factors contribute 80 to 90 percent of public health outcomes.
That is, the conditions in which people live, work, laugh, and suffer influence the way people provide and seek care, heal, and die. Life is a polarized activity.
In specific communities, particularly marked by poverty and vulnerability, the need to speak of social spaces of instability and turbulence is evident. It is relevant. It’s obvious. And it is clear how we must all participate in the search for solutions through meaning-creating actions. It is a must. Its caduced. Ddynamic polarity.
“It is important to say that we are thinking about this. We are measuring that. We are capturing this, we have information about it.”
The participation that cannot, should not, does not need … consists only of gathering, practicing and transmitting knowledge about, for example, sanitary, hygienic and preventive measures. Real participation involves much more than that. It is not just participating. It is becoming part, even if divisions are felt, they settled down, they turn out to be a challenge … Life is polarized.
“A 2019 study found that only 24 percent of hospitals and 16 percent of doctor’s offices asked people about things like food insecurity, housing instability, transportation needs, and violence in their homes. personal lives “.
Participation must also include and prioritize the political and social aspects that participation itself entails. Polarized activity.
It is not only the lack, the scarcity, the absence of money, resources, opportunities, possibilities and options … that leads to inequities, it is also a disability, a limited possibility, a low probability of participating socially and living a life dignity in which people have control over their circumstances. Life is.
“Addressing social determinants could make a significant difference for health when we consider that poverty, racism, and housing not only correlate with poor outcomes, but can actually cause them. COVID-19 is exposing that truth and It presents us with an opportunity for policymaking that aggressively focuses on social determinants, both to get us safely out of the pandemic and for future health outcomes. ” VICE NEWS
