Wonder Where You've Been

“Classes communicate differently and our social skills aren't the same. Working-class people aren't big on formal introductions and small talk. We use much more body language and humility. Among us, we share a lot of local history and experience, so there's much we don't have to say to each other. We tend to mumble and say 'you know' a lot. We aren't usually talking heads. Self-deprecation is often our way of exercising a work-group, working toward cooperation and trust. It's a very tribal thing. And home. Home is not a street number, not a building. Home is another word for community, for the tribe ... faces, hands, voices, mumbles and shared work.” - Carolyn Chute

Social Justice?

Reading Carolyn Chute. Finally, someone willing to talk about class. And I like that her husband's backyard target practice "keeps away the same old tired bohemian intelligentsia types."

Anyone up for target practice in my backyard?

You're a MEPN? Be a DIVA!

Still suffering from the group-think exercise known as indoctrination to the medical model of cultural competence, I was interested to see a former colleague from my doctoral days featured in this article*. It's about UCSF's DIVA program. Who knew this program even existed? Certainly not I, and I've been with this institution since I was barely out of my teens. Well, not only does it exist, but it's headed by the socio-cultural issues in health care instructor, as well as the much respected Howard Pinderhughes. I have some reservations about the article, even though I understand what its trying to do. My sense is that the way to the heart of this problem is not through the individual and his/her experience, as the informal "research" that the program is based upon suggests. It is, in fact, where the whole issue tends to fall apart. But, we can't do much about that, so, for the time being, MEPNs should pay attention to the article and hopefully, one of you will get involved with the DIVAs. They need some students to contribute his/her real-world experience (outside of nursing and outside of anthropology/sociology) and to give allied feedback about our clinical and classroom experience. It's worth it. Even if you have to belong to a group with the world's stupidest name.

*The publication is not yet available online; I will provide a link when it becomes avialable. If you're affiliated with the university, you should have recevied Science of Caring Volume 20, 2 in the mail last week. Check out the article entitled Seeking Diversity Deeper Than Numbers, pp 11.