People Have the Best Possible Health
Several years ago, while working in Australia, I was visiting with a woman in her forties who received community connections supports. We spent a good amount of time together as I learned about her personal outcomes. We discussed many topics and had a long discussion about her health and preventive screenings, of which she had had very few. She was a lovely woman, quiet and somewhat shy. I conducted followup with her staff, a young man, who actually happened to be American but had lived in Australia for many years. When we talked about preventive health screenings and women’s exams such as cancer screenings, I was informed that it was an area that usually was not assessed. I remember the young man’s dedication and desire to “do the right thing” as he put it. He stated that he just never had thought about asking some of the questions I was asking and certainly
had not asked about breast exams or pap smears, but probably should have.
The organization did not meet criteria for accreditation at that time, not due to lack of commitment but more due to lack of understanding the depth and intent of criteria for accreditation. Two years later I was invited back to conduct training and consultation to help the organization become accredited. A group of leaders had been assembled to participate in the week long consultation and to my surprise who was among the group?—the same young man I had met earlier. He was full of energy and enthusiasm and said he was so proud of his organization for their commitment to “do the right thing” and work towards accreditation.
During a break, he came up to me and asked if I had a few minutes. He informed me that after learning about personal outcomes he did what he thought was “the right thing” and helped the woman to get her preventive screenings. He shared that she had been diagnosed with cancer and due to the early diagnosis, treatment had been successful. He expressed what a believer he had become when he saw that by asking a few questions to really learn about a person and the many aspects of their lives, a life could be saved, as it was. - Epp O’Neill
