Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/273931
As with contagious diseases, reversing the violence epidemic involves inter- rupting the cycle of transmission. Using public health epidemic control tactics such as isolation and diffusion, Cure Violence reduces the spread of violence and prevents recurrence by changing social norms. First implemented in 2000 in West Garfield Park in Chicago, Cure Violence achieved a 67 percent reduction in shootings during its first year. The program has since demonstrated similar results in more than 20 cities around the world. Douglas L. Wood, MD: Exploring the Definition of Health Improving care models begins with a thorough assessment of each patient's personal understanding of health. Dr. Wood, Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, examines the importance of understanding that each patient defines health differently, and how clinicians and healthcare organization can use that understanding to develop models of care that align with patients' health goals. "Despite all the questions we ask, despite all the forms we make people fill out, for some reason we have trouble making a basic connection," Dr. Wood says. "Without that understanding, we cannot really deliver hea lth ca re in a way that produces health." For patients, he emphasizes, health is defined not in clinical terms, but by the ability to enjoy time with loved ones and live as normal a life as possible. To deliver care that better serves this definition of health, organizations should move away from traditional models, which revolve around clinical measures, institutional structures and care teams built around a single physician, to more flexible, adaptable and responsive models. The ideal care model, Dr. Wood says, should seek to know the patient as a person, provide services that match the patient's needs and prefer- ences, drive optimal performance geared toward positive patient experiences, and respond and adapt to changing patient needs at different points in the care process. MK Czerwiec, RN, MA, and Michael Green, MD: Comic Relief Two clinicians show and tell how comic books can function as a healthcare communication tool. Czer wiec, Artist in Residence at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University, and Dr. Green, Professor of Humanities and Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine, explore how comics — or graphic medicine, as the pair have dubbed it — can communicate difficult medical information in a way that patients more easily relate to and comprehend. Czerwiec and Dr. Green also propose that drawing and writing their own comics can provide clinicians with an outlet to express and work through the challenges of caregiving. Czerwiec illustrates how, with even the simplest images and text, comics can powerfully and sensitively portray a patient's experience of illness. In examples depicting comic strip characters suddenly confronted by illness — receiving a shocking diagnosis, struggling to grasp the meaning of medical terminology or attempting to enjoy life while facing the possibility of death — Czerwiec shows how concisely and effectively comics can convey deep and complex emotions, shed light on taboo topics, and assure patients they are not alone. She also tells how, when a favorite patient died early in Czerwiec's nursing career, exploring her feelings in comic form helped Czerwiec find new reason for hope. By making comics part of the medical cur- riculum, Czerwiec and Dr. Green suggest, the medium can have a transformative effect on young providers, and thereby on health care. Fo r a d d i t i o n a l i n f o r m a t i o n , v i s i t www.mayo.edu/transform. ■ M D N E W S . CO M ■ MD NEWS Minnesota | 2 5