157. It Takes a Village | 举全村之力
– Musings of Dr. Jamie C. Hsu, 4.27.2024
There is an African proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child,” that I can relate to very well. When I was growing up, we lived in a teachers’ dormitory common area with more than 30 families. There were common spaces and a playground for kids to roam around and play together. The adults would gather under the big trees to chat or play chess. The common area was also an open space for all to hang their laundry to dry. As kids, we treated the whole school dorm complex as our own. We would freely go into other houses and even eat there. It felt like we were being taken care of and raised by all the neighbors.
Fast forward a few decades and compare that to the lives of seniors in society. As seniors, we gradually moved away from the “do-it-yourself” mentality. We relied more and more on the service and help of others. We needed grocery and food deliveries, a handyman to fix things around the house, and a service person to take care of the electricity, water, and garbage. This dependence was even more evident during the pandemic.
In addition to our increased dependence on others to care for our house and daily living, we rely even more on various health providers to care for our aging body and mind. A case in point is my recent personal experience:
When doing exercises and jogging, I noticed that my gait became less stable and my posture changed as I got tired. My primary doctor ordered a slew of tests to check my heart, brain, and muscles. I visited a physical therapist, orthopedist, cardiologist, neurologist, and radiologist. I also went through numerous blood tests, an echocardiogram, a stress test, a nuclear scan of the brain neuron transmission, an upper and lower GI scan, and other special tests. I never knew my body was so complicated and would require so many medical experts to properly care for it. Through this experience, I began to have a much better appreciation of how my body works: the heart, the digestive system, the muscular and skeletal structures, and the marvelous brain and neurons controlling all my movements and thoughts.
I am so grateful that, in my youth, I had a village of neighbors to help raise me. Later in my adult life, I had a village of service and infrastructure people to give me a smooth daily life. And now, in my twilight years, there is a village of healthcare providers to care for my wellness and cure diseases when necessary. I am lucky to live in a country with the most advanced medical technology and where health and life are so valued.
舉全村之力 (2024/04/27)
-作者 許俊宸博士
-中譯 薛乃綺
有一句非洲諺語：「養一個孩子需要一整個村莊。」這句話我非常有感觸。在我小的時候，住在一個有三十幾個家庭的教師宿舍公共區域裡。那裡有共用空間和一個供孩子們自由奔跑玩耍的遊樂場。大人們會聚在大樹下聊天或下棋。公共區域也是大家晾曬衣服的開放空間。作為孩子，我們把整個學校宿舍當作自己的家。我們可以自由地走進其他家庭，甚至在那裡吃飯。感覺就像是被所有鄰居們照顧和撫養長大。
幾十年後，再看看現在社會中的高齡者生活。作為資深公民，我們不再事事都想著要自己動手，也越來越依賴他人提供的服務和幫助。我們需要購物和食物配送，需要修配師傅來修理家中的各種設施，還需要有人來照顧水電和垃圾。這種依賴，在疫情期間更是明顯。
除了越來越依賴他人來照顧房子以及日常生活外，我們甚至更需要各種類型的健康提供者來照顧我們年老的身體和心靈。最近我的個人經歷就是個例子：
我在運動和慢跑時，發現到自己的步態變得不穩定、疲勞時姿勢也開始有變化。我的主治醫生為我安排了一系列的檢查，包括我的心臟、大腦和肌肉。我還去了物理治療師、骨科醫生、心臟科醫生、神經科醫生和放射科醫生那裡；更進行了好幾次的血液檢查、心臟超聲波檢查、壓力測試、大腦神經核磁掃描、上下腸道掃描和其他特殊檢查等等。我從來不知道自己的身體這麼複雜，需要這麼多醫學專家來共診照顧。透過這次經歷，我開始更了解自己身體的運作：從心臟、消化系統、肌肉到骨骼結構，還有控制我所有動作和思想的神奇大腦以及神經網絡。
為此，我非常感激在我年少時期，有一整個鄰居村莊撫養我長大。在我的成年生活裡，有個具備服務量能和基礎設施的村莊，讓我每天生活都過得順順利利的。現在，在我的晚年生活中，也有個提供醫療保健的村莊來照顧我的健康，並且在必要時治療疾病。我很幸運，能生活在一個擁有最先進醫療技術、並且高度重視健康和生命的國家。
