And apparently this has occurred in other sport team settings...http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/racist-team-owners
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Organizational Response toward racism
Clipper owner banned for life...why do I feel like he is getting off easy?
Inferential racism in the U.S.
Saw this article (http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2014/04/minneapolis_air_pollution_is_racist_u_of_m_study_finds.php) and thought about our discussion today concerning inferential racism.
Reflections on difference
I saw this list ( http://m.tickld.com/x/20-weird-things-about-america) of items considered unusual by folks not from the U.S. Interesting to consider what values each embodies.
Chapter 12
This chapter discusses communication ethics literacy and difference. But what does this mean? Of all the chapters so far this to me was the most ambiguous.The book explains that the focus of the chapter is on "the good of learning the constructive pragmatic response to an era defined by difference."(210.) A topic that is discussed is the pragmatic of dialogue. The pragmatics of dialogue untie learning, discernment, and difference. By uniting these three things we "affirm multiple views of the good, neither ignoring or concurring unreflectively with the new." (211).
This chapter seems to be about using the communication ethics we have learned as a whole in this book and applying them into our lives. On page 213 is says "communication ethics is the call to learn about different views." Everyday we have to navigate through communication with people who are different than ourselves. Everyday in class we learned from each other and realized what communication was acceptable and what communication was not. To be honest the first couple of classes were awkward. A lot of people had not broken out of their comfort zone and at the other end of the spectrum a lot of students seemed not to have a filter. As the semester continued, it became more apparent that the open communication of the class was welcomed and we learned communication ethics literacy to navigate communication in the classroom.
This chapter seems to be about using the communication ethics we have learned as a whole in this book and applying them into our lives. On page 213 is says "communication ethics is the call to learn about different views." Everyday we have to navigate through communication with people who are different than ourselves. Everyday in class we learned from each other and realized what communication was acceptable and what communication was not. To be honest the first couple of classes were awkward. A lot of people had not broken out of their comfort zone and at the other end of the spectrum a lot of students seemed not to have a filter. As the semester continued, it became more apparent that the open communication of the class was welcomed and we learned communication ethics literacy to navigate communication in the classroom.
Chapter 12. Are Humans Willing to Learn?
Chapter 12 was one of the most important so far. Some of the language used in this chapter was able to give me better insight on how to look at others while we are in the communication arena. I am convinced that this chapter was embedded in my head while I slept. In the first paragraph I was given the ideas that would stick with me the rest of the chapter.
The first idea was to, “stop using ethics as a weapon towards people” (p.209). This is a very bold statement. It is sometimes very hard to drop every prejudice we have and just listen. We must remember that the people we are conversing with or we are involved with may have a totally different idea of how communication works and what it actually is. The book continues to say that we must, “embrace the necessity of learning” (p.209). We need to be able to adjust to different situations and understand how to navigate them, even when we don’t like or approve of the situation or outcome. The text continues in later in the text offering an idea we must embrace. Learning about the other.
This is important because we are able to brush things off much easier and continue the growing process. If we do not learn what the other may want or need how can we ever teach them our views or the “right” way? I feel that this is the most important part about communication. As a human race we must embrace difference but at the same time try to make all of us interconnect. It is a sticky situation if we just continue to adapt to our own lives while not making room for growth by others.
I am currently looking for more work and it makes my boss very upset. He is worried he will have to work more and does not want to see my point. I am looking for day work so I can be with my little buddy when he is born. I am concerned that the way our restaurant is being ran from our boss may be an issue in the future and I don’t really want to be involved with him anymore. He is aggressive and always worried about himself. I just can’t deal with it much longer. He is never willing to listen or understand people below him on the work chain of command. I actually told him right before I read this chapter some of the same things that were covered in here.
The first idea was to, “stop using ethics as a weapon towards people” (p.209). This is a very bold statement. It is sometimes very hard to drop every prejudice we have and just listen. We must remember that the people we are conversing with or we are involved with may have a totally different idea of how communication works and what it actually is. The book continues to say that we must, “embrace the necessity of learning” (p.209). We need to be able to adjust to different situations and understand how to navigate them, even when we don’t like or approve of the situation or outcome. The text continues in later in the text offering an idea we must embrace. Learning about the other.
This is important because we are able to brush things off much easier and continue the growing process. If we do not learn what the other may want or need how can we ever teach them our views or the “right” way? I feel that this is the most important part about communication. As a human race we must embrace difference but at the same time try to make all of us interconnect. It is a sticky situation if we just continue to adapt to our own lives while not making room for growth by others.
I am currently looking for more work and it makes my boss very upset. He is worried he will have to work more and does not want to see my point. I am looking for day work so I can be with my little buddy when he is born. I am concerned that the way our restaurant is being ran from our boss may be an issue in the future and I don’t really want to be involved with him anymore. He is aggressive and always worried about himself. I just can’t deal with it much longer. He is never willing to listen or understand people below him on the work chain of command. I actually told him right before I read this chapter some of the same things that were covered in here.
Chapter 12
This was a great chapter to wrap up our semester in Communication Ethics. The chapter discusses three aspects to Communication Ethics Literacy and Difference, Pragmatic, Crisis Communication, and Communication ethics literacy. The main thing that comes to mind after reading this chapter is our classroom discussions. Over time we all learned what was acceptable in terms of communication by interacting with each other. The book says, "Keeping conversation going in such an era begins with meeting what we do not know, which permits learning and ironically, sheds more clarity on the ground or position upon which we stand," (pg. 211). As we began the semester no one knew how this class was going to communicate their ideas but we learned from each other establishing certain ground rules and respect for everyones opinions. Everything leading up to this chapter is tied together- common sense, our public/private arenas, and intercultural communication ethics come to mind. We all learned what was right and wrong growing up, but we learned them differently. But that still allowed us to learn and communicate effectively. This chapter shows the importance each of these different steps plays in what you might call successful communication.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Chapter 12
This chapter was a nice way to sort of wrap up and recap
what we have been working at all semester. The overall point I took away from this section was that "communication ethics is the call to learn about differing views" (213). I particularly liked the focus on
difference and a commitment to learning in this section, which page 227 talks a lot about, because
throughout the semester I have maintained my opinion that learning is one of
the most important aspect of communication and working ethically through
difference. This chapter explains the importance of being able and willing to recognize
difference and what needs to be done and learned to move through it. I think we
have faced this type of dilemma in class discussions. Sometimes people did not
agree and it became somewhat obvious, but more often than not students would be
able to recognize what the differences in their contexts or opinions were and
would direct questions at one another. I think this shows our willingness to
learn about one another and show more empathy or acceptance of differences. The
point of communication, in my opinion, is to be able to interact with others,
and others will always have some differences and there must be an exchange of
ideas and an aspect of learning to have effective communication.
These ideas also relate to ethics because we often came
across topics like race in class that can be difficult to discuss and
recognizing different backgrounds, races, and opinions helped us to interact in
ways where people could share their thoughts but still recognized what would be
acceptable in a multicultural classroom setting. If we have the common good of
having an effective discussion and enhancing our education, we will communicate
better because of it. This ties into difference as well because even though a
person’s idea of what the good is may differ from another, if there is a shared
good or desire to have that conversation and willingness to hear someone else
out, we can learn about those goods of the other. I also really liked that this
book encouraged questions because they are inherent to learning, and this
chapter really summarized these ideas of learning in a way that made me
recognize how well our class now communicates.
Chapter 12 Blog Post
This chapter was kind of a review of some of the
main points of the book. Although many
of the concepts of Chapter 12 were discussed in other chapters of the book,
their reiteration was helpful to emphasize their importance to the study of communication
ethics. I was a little surprised that
there was not much new information in the chapter. The idea of crisis communication is an
important one. This is defined by the
book as dealing with different views of the good. On page 213, it says that “Communication
ethics is the call to learn about differing views of the good assumed by
different positions.” I also like how on
this same page the authors talk about how we “miss the communication challenges
and opportunities before us” if we “ignore the diversity of goods” (213). In a world where difference is something that
we have to learn to deal with, it is important to understand that people have
different ideas about the good.
I like the way that unethical communication was
defined on page 221: “[A]ssuming that
you know everything and assuming that what the other knows is not worth
knowing.” That way of thinking seems to
be less common every day. There seems to
be an unprecedented level of tolerance in our country and many Americans seem
to abide by what the book calls “learn and discern” (221). Our society is much more open to a diverse
range of viewpoints and lifestyles today than it has ever been before. The chapter states that just because we may
not agree with someone on the ethical aspect of a situation it does not mean
that they are wrong. Disagreement is an
opportunity to learn from the Other.
There are differing views of the good and it is
important that we not let our own views on a topic keep us from trying to understand
the views of the Other, even if we initially do not think that we will find any
common ground between our own view and theirs.
The book mentioned numerous times that living in a postmodern world
means that there is no longer a universal idea of the good and because of that,
it is necessary to engage in ethical communication with the Other.
Chapter 12. Communication Ethics Literacy and Difference
There are three key terms in chapter 12 such as pragmatic, crisis communication, and communication ethics literacy. This chapter was the hardest one to understand for me. The first one is pragmatic which is the need for practical engagement of ideas responsive to a particular historical moment. When I was thinking about response to a particular historical moment, I could think of many historical issues which are still being discussed until these days. For example, when Korea was a colony of Japan, Japan tried to adopt the Island called Dokdo to their territory. Also, Japan is still trying to adapt that Island. Because there are not many American people who knows about this issue, we established a student club call 'Korea's Island Dokdo', and promoting what is happening right now.
Second one is crisis communication which is an increasingly relevant metaphor for today's postmodern moment of virtue contention; the unexpected emerges and requires discernment and action as we encounter differing particular "goods" in the public domain. I could think of ability of crisis management. For example, when the Hurricane Katrina hit America, people blamed George W. Bush about his ability of crisis management. He visited the actual place of damage when people complained about that, and the government could not do anything about it. The Hurricane Katrina was unexpected emerge, and the U.S. government did not had any discernment and action about that crisis.
Third one is communication ethics literacy which identifies the good in the interplay of self and other and the particular historical moment, attending to what is protected and promoted. I could think of Muslim students when I went to library. In the library they were holding a sign that 'ask about Muslim', and they were explaining those to others. They were reading their Bible when people do not ask something which means they were doing some kind of interplay with themselves, and others who had a questions. They responded to questions about their historical moment too.
Second one is crisis communication which is an increasingly relevant metaphor for today's postmodern moment of virtue contention; the unexpected emerges and requires discernment and action as we encounter differing particular "goods" in the public domain. I could think of ability of crisis management. For example, when the Hurricane Katrina hit America, people blamed George W. Bush about his ability of crisis management. He visited the actual place of damage when people complained about that, and the government could not do anything about it. The Hurricane Katrina was unexpected emerge, and the U.S. government did not had any discernment and action about that crisis.
Third one is communication ethics literacy which identifies the good in the interplay of self and other and the particular historical moment, attending to what is protected and promoted. I could think of Muslim students when I went to library. In the library they were holding a sign that 'ask about Muslim', and they were explaining those to others. They were reading their Bible when people do not ask something which means they were doing some kind of interplay with themselves, and others who had a questions. They responded to questions about their historical moment too.
Chapter 12 Communication Ethics Literacy and Difference
I thought this chapter did a good job of wrapping up the text book and bringing it back full circle. I especially liked the closing sentence: "Such commitment (one to learning) reminds us of a basic communication ethics conviction in an age of narrative and virtue contention-- learn from difference, and as one chooses, do not lose the pragmatic necessity of doubt and 'maybe' in a time of change and recognized difference" (227). I felt like all of the major concepts that we focused on were woven in such as making sure learning is at the center of dialogue, we all have different narratives that are shaping the way that we view this postmodern world, and we should all remember that we should be responsive to the particular historical moment (pragmatic necessity) (210). However in this chapter, I particularly found the concepts of narrative and crisis communication the most interesting.
Narrative, as we all know is not a new concept to us, and we know that each of us has our own.With that being said, it is easy to fall into the individualistic trap that causes us to lose sight of the importance, feelings and beliefs of others. A question that was posed in the book also got me thinking. It said, "How and what can I learn from and about the Other's position when I am in disagreement, and how does this insight add texture to my own standpoint?" (224). I can't help but think how much change could take place in the world if instead of making judgments, people tried to understand. After finishing this text, I believe that's ultimately what ethics comes down to. If someone doesn't make an attempt to understand the underlying narratives while communicating, ethics are almost certain to break down at some point. And that brings up crisis communication. As the text points out, you will face someone whose good is different than yours at some point in time (every day here in America). That doesn't mean that we have to agree with every stance, but we are called to learn and try to understand, and then maybe we can focus more on communication rather than the crisis. An example relevant to my life is my girlfriend leads a Christian group at school, and was approached by a Muslim student about coming to one of their group meetings. Clearly there are differences between these two groups, and in certain settings the two groups are sometimes hostile towards each other. However, she saw an opportunity that by going, she could learn more about a religion, and open dialogue between the two groups. Unfortunately it hasn't happened yet, so I don't have anything else to report, but I thought this was a perfect example of how we should also strive to understand people, thus becoming the most effective and ethical communicators possible.
Narrative, as we all know is not a new concept to us, and we know that each of us has our own.With that being said, it is easy to fall into the individualistic trap that causes us to lose sight of the importance, feelings and beliefs of others. A question that was posed in the book also got me thinking. It said, "How and what can I learn from and about the Other's position when I am in disagreement, and how does this insight add texture to my own standpoint?" (224). I can't help but think how much change could take place in the world if instead of making judgments, people tried to understand. After finishing this text, I believe that's ultimately what ethics comes down to. If someone doesn't make an attempt to understand the underlying narratives while communicating, ethics are almost certain to break down at some point. And that brings up crisis communication. As the text points out, you will face someone whose good is different than yours at some point in time (every day here in America). That doesn't mean that we have to agree with every stance, but we are called to learn and try to understand, and then maybe we can focus more on communication rather than the crisis. An example relevant to my life is my girlfriend leads a Christian group at school, and was approached by a Muslim student about coming to one of their group meetings. Clearly there are differences between these two groups, and in certain settings the two groups are sometimes hostile towards each other. However, she saw an opportunity that by going, she could learn more about a religion, and open dialogue between the two groups. Unfortunately it hasn't happened yet, so I don't have anything else to report, but I thought this was a perfect example of how we should also strive to understand people, thus becoming the most effective and ethical communicators possible.
Chapter 12; Communication Ethics Literacy & Difference
This chapter was a very interesting read and was a very nice way for the authors to wrap up the book. The concept of learning in connection to communication ethics is somewhat weaved throughout the entirety of the book and I find it to be a profound way of looking at communication ethics. In this chapter the connection between learning and discernment as well as difference are all very interesting connections that I would have never made without the insight from the text. According to the text the first step in a period of great amounts of difference is to learn about the difference of which we do not know and then to continue with good judgement, or discernment, from that of which we have learned (207-208). This person who teaches us, the Other, can be anyone. As a student I consider this person to be a teacher or professor specifically. The connections between these three concepts, learning, difference, and discernment, make me think of my Intercultural Communications class specifically. We learn so much about these other cultures and their customs and all of these different concepts and communication styles they use and what they consider to be the good. After we learn about this good etc. it is up to us to use our good judgement or discernment to decide what we do with the knowledge or information we aquire from the Other. Since people have different views of the good what we learn from the Other might not agree or align with our own personal sense of the good. Each individuals differing views of what they consider to be the good is where the concept of difference is born (212). Because of this we are able to think what we would like in relation to what we learn to be the good and what we think to be the good.
Chapter 12
Communication ethics is an area that is defined by a lot of differences. Not only is it hard to make one solid definition, but it is difficult to argue and discuss if one is being unethical. In order for us to be effective communicators, it is essential that we learn about the other's opinions and the learn about the discernment between the two (p. 210). The pragmatic view is really important in ethics because it gives both people a way to express their own views of what the "good" is, and then be able to bounce back and forth off of one another. This leads to another important factor of crisis communication. This concept recognizes just how different people are when it comes to communicating, and that since people's behaviors are different, then they are going to respond differently. When the public sphere is breached or interrupted, it is extremely beneficial for people to negotiate what their views of the good are (p. 214).
As time goes on, there aren't as many specific goods, and there are many more views of what the good actually is. So, this makes it even more difficult to decipher. Understanding narrative theory helps us to understand our own backgrounds and others backgrounds in order to understand just why we act the way we act. Or where our thoughts of the good comes from (p. 215). There must be a willingness to learn about another, and without that, there isn't anything to be gained. The other will become upset, and the conversation will have gone backwards.
One example I have of this is from my catholic high school. My religion teacher was very, very conservative. In one of our classes, he told us that being gay was a sin, and that one should just try to be straight and try to rid their thoughts out of their brain about the same sex that they were attracted to. This upset many students in my class. But, some of the students started personally attacking him instead of having a conversation with him that made them see where he was coming from. Had they known that he had grown up in a very traditional home, they would have been able to be more empathetic towards him, but instead, the conversation completely escalated. The good wasn't defined by either parties, so the conversation continued to escalate.
All in all, that is just one example that shows if both people aren't able to listen to the other, then neither good will be present.
As time goes on, there aren't as many specific goods, and there are many more views of what the good actually is. So, this makes it even more difficult to decipher. Understanding narrative theory helps us to understand our own backgrounds and others backgrounds in order to understand just why we act the way we act. Or where our thoughts of the good comes from (p. 215). There must be a willingness to learn about another, and without that, there isn't anything to be gained. The other will become upset, and the conversation will have gone backwards.
One example I have of this is from my catholic high school. My religion teacher was very, very conservative. In one of our classes, he told us that being gay was a sin, and that one should just try to be straight and try to rid their thoughts out of their brain about the same sex that they were attracted to. This upset many students in my class. But, some of the students started personally attacking him instead of having a conversation with him that made them see where he was coming from. Had they known that he had grown up in a very traditional home, they would have been able to be more empathetic towards him, but instead, the conversation completely escalated. The good wasn't defined by either parties, so the conversation continued to escalate.
All in all, that is just one example that shows if both people aren't able to listen to the other, then neither good will be present.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Where is my good in the health care industry
I think that one of the most interesting points from our
discussion yesterday was the issue that some doctors get paid to promote drugs
to people. Some of my initial questions where how many doctors took part in
this and to what extent have I been or my family members been affected.
To give the benefit of the doubt to doctors, my initial
reaction was that only a select few had financial gains from this type of
practice. However, I found an article online that referenced a survey, which
stated that as much as three quarters of doctors have some kind of financial
relationship with the companies. The “companies” being pharmaceutical
companies. I was a little taken aback by this! That is a lot of doctors!
Relating this all to the text, I now wonder what the “good”
is in the healthcare industry! For me personally, the good is my own well-being
and personal health along with the health of my family members. To the
pharmaceutical companies, the good seems to be making money. The “good” for the
doctors seems to be a combination of both. When doctors engage in financial
relations with pharmaceutical companies, it sends the message to me that their
own personal money gains are more important than my own. My trust in them is
greatly diminished because money is getting in the way. I’m sure not all
doctors take money but it sure does send a negative message out about the
entire healthcare industry to the general public.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Ch. 12 Literacy and Difference
What caught my attention right away in the chapter was the first sentence; "The Other is teacher before partner" (209). That jumped out to me right away because it's very true! Someone who is different from myself will teach me certain things that I've never experienced before. The teaching by the Other will cling on to me as I travel through what life has to offer, and many times, the Other has become a partner (friend, aquaintance, coworker) and the partnership has become advantageous to me. Another quote I liked was, "First, cease using ethics as a weapon; disagreement should not immediately move us into referring to an opponent as unethical. Second, embrace the necessity of learning as we meet diverse ethical positions contrary to our own with the assumption that learning does not necessarily suggest agreement." I think that as human beings we fall into the trap of thinking that if people don't have the same values as us, we are better than them and they are unethical. We try to use our morals as weapons... we shouldn't do that. Rather, we should seek to understand why their ethics are different than ours, and then we will be left with the decision of compromising something in our lives from that experience.
There were 3 metaphors that were omnipresent throughout the reading:
1) Pragmatic: the need for practical engagement of ideas responsive to a particular historical moment. I think that we are going through this right now as gays/lesbians fight for their rights. Now I'd be lying to you if I told you I never used the word faggot... But now I choose not to use that type of wording to describe homosexuals. Through working and interacting with gay men at my restaurant job, I've found them to be brave in a world where they are looked down upon and simultaneously normal people. They too just want to be financially stable, and happy. We will look upon this time in America 30 years from now and say, "this is when America started standing up for the gay population". I'm proud to say that I've had a paradigm shift on this particular topic.
2) Crisis communication— an increasingly relevant metaphor for today’s postmodern moment of virtue contention; the unexpected emerges and requires discernment and action as we encounter differing particular “ goods” in the public domain. I have a good example of this. I was with some people who were talking negatively about Somalians... I had to make a choice of wiping this under the rug or making it loud and clear to these people that it's not ok to do this. I felt that it was critical to make a decision. It's one thing to think something, but another to act upon it.
3) Communication ethics literacy— identifies the good in the interplay of self and Other and the particular historical moment, attending to what is protected and promoted. This metaphor made me reflect on the generation that I grew up in. I believe that now more than ever, race/ class are irrelevant to building relationships. We haven't been able to say this ever in our country. We still have a lot of work to do, but it's important that we truly grasp the progress that our generation has embarked on.
There were 3 metaphors that were omnipresent throughout the reading:
1) Pragmatic: the need for practical engagement of ideas responsive to a particular historical moment. I think that we are going through this right now as gays/lesbians fight for their rights. Now I'd be lying to you if I told you I never used the word faggot... But now I choose not to use that type of wording to describe homosexuals. Through working and interacting with gay men at my restaurant job, I've found them to be brave in a world where they are looked down upon and simultaneously normal people. They too just want to be financially stable, and happy. We will look upon this time in America 30 years from now and say, "this is when America started standing up for the gay population". I'm proud to say that I've had a paradigm shift on this particular topic.
2) Crisis communication— an increasingly relevant metaphor for today’s postmodern moment of virtue contention; the unexpected emerges and requires discernment and action as we encounter differing particular “ goods” in the public domain. I have a good example of this. I was with some people who were talking negatively about Somalians... I had to make a choice of wiping this under the rug or making it loud and clear to these people that it's not ok to do this. I felt that it was critical to make a decision. It's one thing to think something, but another to act upon it.
3) Communication ethics literacy— identifies the good in the interplay of self and Other and the particular historical moment, attending to what is protected and promoted. This metaphor made me reflect on the generation that I grew up in. I believe that now more than ever, race/ class are irrelevant to building relationships. We haven't been able to say this ever in our country. We still have a lot of work to do, but it's important that we truly grasp the progress that our generation has embarked on.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
AMA Health care communication ethics
I happened upon this AMA (American Medical Association) page concerning the 9 areas to help develop patient-centered communication. I find it interesting that they place communication within the medical ethics section of their site. Thoughts?
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Health Care Communication Ethics
It takes a lot of strength and determination to pursue a career in the health care field. I really admire doctors, nurses, CNAs, and all others in the field. Our health is very obviously important and having good and ethical people providing us with the healthcare we need is often times essential to our existence. A topic that is really important within this field is "Care". The book defines care as "the communicative action or practice that links to the good of responsiveness to the Other."(199). When we get sick we lose a bit of our health and seek to get it back with attentiveness to the nature of the response, therefore seeking care.
It is very very important to me and many other people that health care remains ethical. I trust that when I tell my doctor embarrassing things about my health that they will not tell the entire community. I also trust that my doctor will listen to what I have to say about my health engaging in listening, attentiveness, and dialogic negotiation. This actually happened to me the other week at the doctor. I suffer from occasional back pain and last week my back was really flaring up. It was so bad that I was actually in tears while taking an exam. I went into the doctor and he basically told me that stretching and ice would make this all go away (I had been doing this all week to try to get the symptoms to calm down). I had been prescribed a muscle relaxer before and brought this up to my doctor, he seemed very reluctant to prescribe them to me. Through dialogic negotiation we were able to decide that a muscle relaxer could be the solution even though it was not the most common one. We attended to the historical moment and negotiated a new possibility.
It is very very important to me and many other people that health care remains ethical. I trust that when I tell my doctor embarrassing things about my health that they will not tell the entire community. I also trust that my doctor will listen to what I have to say about my health engaging in listening, attentiveness, and dialogic negotiation. This actually happened to me the other week at the doctor. I suffer from occasional back pain and last week my back was really flaring up. It was so bad that I was actually in tears while taking an exam. I went into the doctor and he basically told me that stretching and ice would make this all go away (I had been doing this all week to try to get the symptoms to calm down). I had been prescribed a muscle relaxer before and brought this up to my doctor, he seemed very reluctant to prescribe them to me. Through dialogic negotiation we were able to decide that a muscle relaxer could be the solution even though it was not the most common one. We attended to the historical moment and negotiated a new possibility.
Health Care Communication Ethics
I personally found this chapter to be one of the most intriguing and important topics we have covered because I think communication ethics plays a much larger role in health care than people realize right off the bat. The book explains that the importance of health care communication ethics is to "protect and promote the good of responsive hope and the good of care for the other" (191). This has a lot to do with not only caring for the patient and treating them, but understanding what communication guidelines should be met to keep the relationship comfortable. As someone who has has spent a fair amount of time in doctors offices the past few years because of stomach conditions, I was really able to out my own experiences in the context of what the chapter was saying and see how having guidelines and ethical frameworks definitely helps the interaction. I have dealt with male and female doctors and I think the expectations and conversations definitely change. Also, my primary doctor and I have much more personal, open communication because we have built a personal relationship beyond just a professional one. I think it is things like this that really show how important communication and understanding what is best is important in health care. I also think that people generally have strong feelings in terms of doctors and health care experiences and communication could have a lot to do with it. Not that anybody particularly enjoys the doctor, but often people love or hate a certain doctor and describe their experiences as great or horrendous, which could relate to how that doctor communicates and their ethical framework.
One concept I found particularly intriguing was responsiveness. I think this is vital in health care and being a doctor because, at least in my opinion, the role of the health care professional is to make the patient comfortable and there can often be difficult questions or conversations that need to happen and reading and responding appropriately to patients is a big part of that. I also see how it is crucial for the patient as well because the way we respond to a doctor could set the tone of the conversation. The way we receive and respond to what a health care professional is telling us gives them a cue on how to approach the conversation from that point on and whether they need to work within certain boundaries to keep us comfortable.
I also thought the concept of care was really important. The way the book explains care, I view it as being a way of demonstrating the health care communication ethics. It is really acting in response or accordance with the other's (patients) needs in a way to communicate that it matters. In my opinion, demonstrating care helps build the boundaries of the communication ethics because it shows what a person is or is not willing to do. I think it is often responsive and can help facilitate a relationship and interaction and work as a way to show how one expects the relationship to work.
One concept I found particularly intriguing was responsiveness. I think this is vital in health care and being a doctor because, at least in my opinion, the role of the health care professional is to make the patient comfortable and there can often be difficult questions or conversations that need to happen and reading and responding appropriately to patients is a big part of that. I also see how it is crucial for the patient as well because the way we respond to a doctor could set the tone of the conversation. The way we receive and respond to what a health care professional is telling us gives them a cue on how to approach the conversation from that point on and whether they need to work within certain boundaries to keep us comfortable.
I also thought the concept of care was really important. The way the book explains care, I view it as being a way of demonstrating the health care communication ethics. It is really acting in response or accordance with the other's (patients) needs in a way to communicate that it matters. In my opinion, demonstrating care helps build the boundaries of the communication ethics because it shows what a person is or is not willing to do. I think it is often responsive and can help facilitate a relationship and interaction and work as a way to show how one expects the relationship to work.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Health Care Communication Ethics
When I saw the title of this chapter I thought that it would only pertain to health care professionals. The focus of the chapter was on responsiveness meaning the way that we respond to health issues. This chapter was one of the most clearly written chapters in the book. On page 191, health care communication ethics is defined in the following way: "Health care communication ethics protects and promotes the good of responsive hope and the good of care for the Other in meeting moments of robust health, normal difficulties, the tragic, and the inevitable," (191). One thing that I did not like about this chapter and do not like about this book as a whole, is the lack of concrete examples to further explain the points the authors are trying to make. The topic of the chapter is something that everyone can relate to so it would have helped a lot if the authors had used more examples from their lives or hypothetical examples to describe the concepts of the chapter.
The overall tone of the chapter, however, was very sensitive to the emotional nature of this topic. Another key quote is from page 201: "In essence, a labor of care depends upon a sense of 'why' that gives one a reason propelling the human tenacity to engage the 'how' of the doing of care for oneself and for others" (201). My interpretation of this sentence is that it is about finding the reasons and will to keep going in our struggles with our own health problems as well as the health problems of those close to us. Another nice quote was on page 204: "Health care communication ethics carries a good that offers hope when there seems no hope before us." Health care communication ethics encourage us to keep going.
The discussion of human responsiveness and people battling serious health problems reminded me of a co-worker's husband. He has cancer and throughout his illness he has maintained a positive attitude. The sentence on page 197 about how people facing health problems can inspire us made me think about him: "They remind us of the importance of responsiveness as a pragmatic move that meets not a fork in the road, but an opportunity for response that somehow creates a road not seen before" (197). He has always described his battle with cancer as a "journey" or as an "adventure" which are rather positive terms. His response to his illness has been positive and inspiring.
The overall tone of the chapter, however, was very sensitive to the emotional nature of this topic. Another key quote is from page 201: "In essence, a labor of care depends upon a sense of 'why' that gives one a reason propelling the human tenacity to engage the 'how' of the doing of care for oneself and for others" (201). My interpretation of this sentence is that it is about finding the reasons and will to keep going in our struggles with our own health problems as well as the health problems of those close to us. Another nice quote was on page 204: "Health care communication ethics carries a good that offers hope when there seems no hope before us." Health care communication ethics encourage us to keep going.
The discussion of human responsiveness and people battling serious health problems reminded me of a co-worker's husband. He has cancer and throughout his illness he has maintained a positive attitude. The sentence on page 197 about how people facing health problems can inspire us made me think about him: "They remind us of the importance of responsiveness as a pragmatic move that meets not a fork in the road, but an opportunity for response that somehow creates a road not seen before" (197). He has always described his battle with cancer as a "journey" or as an "adventure" which are rather positive terms. His response to his illness has been positive and inspiring.
Health
The whole chapter was interesting to read, but there were two things that really stuck out to me the first being the section on health. I like how Frankl introduced the term final freedom. It was defined as "the stand we take toward a fate we no longer can change." The section then goes on to say, "the goal of health care communication ethics is to protect and promote a sense of gratitude and knowledge of a final freedom-our response to health, its absence, and eventuality of death." This example tied directly in with the story the chapter gave of the young man asking the old man how he was.
To summarize the story the old man was a major benefactor in a company who had to carry around oxygen with him. The old man responded in a comic, yet truthful manner. He told the young man how do you think I am, I have to carry around my oxygen. Then the old man met with other members of the board, knowing that when he passes away his company will never be the same. But before he left the young man he left him with the message, "do something with your life and if this happens to you, then you too can provide a response that invokes guilt in the young to do something with their lives." This story shows how the Final freedom works, and how we can look back on our lives and the knowledge we have gained, and above all share it.
To summarize the story the old man was a major benefactor in a company who had to carry around oxygen with him. The old man responded in a comic, yet truthful manner. He told the young man how do you think I am, I have to carry around my oxygen. Then the old man met with other members of the board, knowing that when he passes away his company will never be the same. But before he left the young man he left him with the message, "do something with your life and if this happens to you, then you too can provide a response that invokes guilt in the young to do something with their lives." This story shows how the Final freedom works, and how we can look back on our lives and the knowledge we have gained, and above all share it.
CH. 11 Health Care Communication Ethics
I found this chapter a lot more interesting than I was expecting. Personally I avoid the doctors office and health industry at all costs. I can't remember the last time I stepped foot into a doctors office for myself. Although I was interested in this chapter, I had difficulty grasping the concepts of the chapter. I really enjoyed the goal of health care communication ethics, "To protect and promote a sense of gratitude and knowledge of a final freedom- our response to health, its absence, and the eventuality of death," (pg. 194). The definition makes a lot of sense to me but I can't understand how to go about it. One of the hardest things to deal with in life is the death of someone you know or may not know, and going about that is a very difficult thing to do.
That is why the section discussing responsiveness made a lot of sense to me. When dealing with one's health, how we respond to it is how we are going to figure out the best way to communicate with them. There are so many different ways that someone could respond to the news of their health. One thing that comes to mind is the movie called, The Bucket List, with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. The two men find out their time left on earth is coming to an end. Instead of sitting in the hospital waiting for that time to come, the two men go out and travel the world, doing things they never would have done. Obviously this isn't always the case but it is one possible situation of how to deal with health care communication ethics.
That is why the section discussing responsiveness made a lot of sense to me. When dealing with one's health, how we respond to it is how we are going to figure out the best way to communicate with them. There are so many different ways that someone could respond to the news of their health. One thing that comes to mind is the movie called, The Bucket List, with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. The two men find out their time left on earth is coming to an end. Instead of sitting in the hospital waiting for that time to come, the two men go out and travel the world, doing things they never would have done. Obviously this isn't always the case but it is one possible situation of how to deal with health care communication ethics.
How to teach business communication ethics
How did you learn / are you learning what is considered
appropriate communication ethics in the business setting?
For me personally, I use my previously learned communication
ethics and apply it as best I can in the workplace. From there, it is mostly a
trial and error learning style. For example, I might say something that is not
appropriate and learn from my mistakes.
I found a scholarly article that studied if communication
ethics for business could be taught in a classroom setting and then the lessons
learned could be applied to a student’s future business decision. The findings
of the article indicated that by showing two films and studying the ethics and
controversy in them, students could take the information they learned in the
classroom and apply the ethics in a business related setting.
I thought this was really cool because business communication
ethics is something that does not really get discussed until you are out in the
real world and you have already made some mistakes. Of course you cannot cover
all of the differences that specific organizations may have but you might be
able to cover the major issues. This might save you some embarrassment from
your manager or boss!
Berger, J., & Pratt, C. B. (1998). Teaching
business-communication ethics with controversial films. Journal of Business
Ethics, 17(16), 1817-1823. doi: 10.1023/A:1005764931816
Chapter 11 Blog Post
I gathered from this chapter that the general concept of
Health Care Communication Ethics requires a sense of responsiveness which can
be translated into “not in what happens to us, but in our response to that which meets us” (195). An example of what this
looks like is an unfortunate circumstance of an individual on their death bed,
and their family surrounding the dying individual; providing responsive care to
nurture the health of his soul and spirit during the last hours of his life. “The
issue of health focuses on how our physical, spiritual, and mental
communication engagements meet particular standards of wellness” (p. 192). Again,
it is not necessarily responding to the clear decline of health, but rather responding
to ultimately provide comfort to the Other.
This chapter of Health Care Communication Ethics also
highlights the concept of humanity within caring for another. “Healthcare
communication ethics reminds us of our humanness” (p. 204), “To be human is to
care; the labor of care is a necessity of our identity” (p. 200). The chapter
also includes all different types of health from sickness, to feeling bad, to
dying.
An example of when I displayed health care communication
ethics is when my grandfather broke his hip and was on put on strict bed rest.
I would go and visit him and bring him treats, magazines, and read stories to
him. This represented the care that I have for not only his physical health,
but for his mental and spiritual well-being also because I knew that he hated
being in a nursing home and he was lonely at times. This makes me question how
some individuals can be unethical in situations similar to this one. The
health care industry has many workers that treat patients unethically and I don’t
understand it. These patients need a specific type of care.
As this chapter emphasizes the protection and promotion of
the good towards the Other, do you think that it is possible to achieve this
individually? More specifically, for yourself if you are undergoing some type
of need for responsiveness. Can you effectively respond to yourself for care or
does this only apply when it is someone else caring? (I hope that makes
sense!?)
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