Posted on 11.19.08

This month of Behavioral Medicine/Leadership Development has been so rejuvenating and needed after my Medicine month.  I've never been one to like hospitalist work because holistic healing that acknowledges simple dignity and respect for humanity is, for me, so difficult to come by. Now I have to say, our hospital has some of the sweetest people taking care of our patients.  But, our health care system makes the care feel fragmented, incomplete, and disorienting. We are working within an acute care model when most of these folks have chronic conditions that are too difficult for them to manage on their own.

In these last few weeks I've had the wonderful opportunity to peek inside local community organizations.  I had meetings with the county department of health, our local CAFP chapter, an adult day care services organization, a hospice interdisciplinary group, an HIV clinic, a women's homeless services/shelter, a drug rehab center, a local WIC office, and a parenting institution.  WOW! I had such an amazing time talking to the directors of each of these places; passionate people who reconfirmed for me the importance of community social capital. Robert Putman describes this in his social capital book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.

Whereas physical capital refers to objects and human capital refers to the properties of individuals, social capital is our connection among individuals-social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them. In that sense, social capital is closely related to what some have called civic virtue. The difference between is that social capital calls attention to the fact that civic virtue is most powerful when embedded in a sense network of reciprocal social relations. A society of many virtuous but isolated individuals is not necessarily rich in social capital.     

This is the stuff that really gets my gears going. I find the community networks, family dynamics, fellowship, business, and neighborhood - all of these alliances that build a culture and reinforce behavior - so fascinating. How can I tap into this gold mine? How can I learn from these community leaders and members?  What can I do?  I ask a million questions because I know people have answers that I don't. I love listening to podcasts about social innovations across the world.  I believe people have answers and are already doing great work out there. It is very centering and empowering to participate in this dialogue for social change.  As this particular leadership rotation ends, I hope that I won't get too bogged down by medicine.  I've got to keep an open mind.