Assignment: For BLOG #1, identify a theorist from Chapter 1 who you most resonated with. Provide specific examples, from your life and/or job, that mimic your theorist's basic concepts. Additionally, how can your theorist's ideas be used in healthcare?
Out of the theorists described in Chapter 1 of Ethics in Health Administration, I feel that I most resonate with Victor Frankl. Frankl believes that as humans, we are comprised of mind, body, and spirit. He also believes that each person is unique with their own unique purpose. Decisions are based upon the things you believe, are committed to, love, or because of your relationship with God. Frankl also stated that if one doesn't feel a sense of purpose, he or she will have a feeling of emptiness that they may feel the need to fill with things like alcohol, drugs, work, food, or power; but this emptiness can be resisted by a lively conscience. Your conscience, according to Frankl, does not have absolute knowledge, but tries to find the best action to take in a particular situation. I agree with all of these things.
I suffer from depression, and much of the reason is that I don't feel that I know my purpose. Not feeling like you have a purpose really does leave you feeling empty. I have started attending therapy, where I've learned how to resist the empty feeling by using my conscience. Through applying these concepts from Frankl, I've actually started to feel a lot better. I feel that I have a unique purpose, and that everything I do happens to achieve this purpose. I may not have completely been able to align with Frankl's beliefs if I hadn't had this experience with depression.
Frankl's ideas can also be applied to a career in healthcare. As healthcare providers or administrators, we should treat each person as more than just a body; they should be treated as a unique mind, body, and spirit. If you treat people as they are (mind, body, and spirit), and not just a body in your practice, they will leave with a much better attitude toward you. I know I hate to be treated as just another body coming through a doctor's office. If I'm treated with respect, I tend to be much happier as a patient. Frankl's ideas are also used in holistic healthcare. Holistic health is a concept of healthcare delivery in which a person's psychological, physical, and social health are all taken into account. To a holistic healthcare provider, people are not just bodies, but also have a mind and spirit to treat and examine. The mind, body, and spirit are all connected. This follows Frankl's idea of ethics.
