If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis

A couple of weeks ago, I found out about a documentary called If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis while listening to Death, Sex & Money, one of my favorite podcasts and one that I still need write a post about. The documentary is by the award-winning director Ramin Bahrani done in collaboration with PBS and focuses in Appalachia, where American communities are left with limited or no access to healthcare. Since rural health is a key subject in the work that I do, I was very interested in watching it after listening to the interview from podcast episode. Two nurse practitioners, Teresa and Paula, from The Health Wagon were interviewed on the podcast and are featured in the documentary. A lot of it centers around how they travel throughout the parts of rural central Appalachia providing care to those who have been left behind and have little to no other options for quality healthcare.

In the very tight 26 minutes, you hear from different folks from various backgrounds about their lives and struggles over the years. There is also some discussion on the epidemic of rural hospital closures due to poor reimbursement rates and severe understaffing. This powerful short documentary was shortlisted for the 2024 Oscar for Documentary Short Film. In the end it wasn't selected as a nominee, but it is still very much worth a watch if you have any interest in what's going on in rural areas in the healthcare field. It's free to watch directly on PBS's website (see link above) or if you search for it on YouTube. The subject matter is heavy and very serious, please use discretion and watch it when you're in a good frame of mind.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Apology

Image
I don't want you to think that I stopped caring. Loss is an incredibly hard thing for all of us, but I especially struggle accepting the end of anything. When we think of loss, our minds immediately go to death because that's loss in its most permanent form but the end of anything can cause similar feelings. It could be the end of some sort of relationship (family, friend, work, romantic, etc.) or even a form of media like a television show or podcast. Obviously the latter examples aren't nearly as serious because they are designed to end, but one could argue that so are nearly all relationships.  We have this idea that once we know somebody and have any sort of connection to them beyond waving at a neighbor whose name you don't know, that there's an obligation to keep that relationship going forever. It's not realistic for this to be true for a long list of reasons. When the thing that brings two people together ends in some fashion, it's natural for that b...
Read more

Social Media Break

Image
I'm struggling right now. I'm searching for direction, trying figure out what I want to do in my life. I'm working on being a better person and want to get more fulfillment out of the work that I do. Instead of focusing and creating a plan, I spend way too much time on social media. It's easy to get lost in the lives of others, hilarious memes, constant "breaking news" updates, and the seemingly non-stop political coverage that is this time period's blood sport. So for at least the month of February, I'll be taking a break from Twitter and Facebook (they're the only platforms I use). I've already deleted the apps off of my phone in an effort to help break the chains, so to speak. The hope is that I better use the time that I used to spend just mindlessly scanning through those feeds. Other than using that time towards working out whatever it is that I'm going through right now, there are a bunch of other things that will easily fill...
Read more

September Wrap-Up

Image
The school year has begun so that means we're getting back into our regular routines. September did have some highlights, include a work trip that brought me to North Dakota for a two day conference and we saw a Taylor Swift cover band called Let's Sing Taylor as a family. Other than that it was a lot of gaming for me and not much else. This month is shaping up to be a busy one between both work and having plans nearly every day each weekend. This post will be shorter than most because we didn't have time to watch anything of note and I didn't come across any fun snacks to share. Blah Blog Log August 2024 Wrap-Up  - Lots of games, an ice cream contest, and a psychological thriller/supernatural horror film that I'm still thinking about. Bored  Board Games My third most played game in 2023, Kingdom Builder , saw 11 plays on BGA last month bringing it to 17 for the year. BGA still saw a majority of my plays, but more in person gaming days meant I played a lot more wit...
Read more