Chapter 11: Health Care Communication Ethics

The way the textbook differentiates optimism from hope is really interesting, and important to understanding health care in my opinion.  According to Christopher Lasch:"Optimism falls prey to consumer mentality of demand for life to conform to one's wishes; hope is grounded in the same desire, but, additionally, possesses a gritty sense of work and conviction situated within a realization that not all hopes actualize themselves.  The key to hope is responsiveness, and the demand of optimism is expectation...Hope endures even in the face of disappointed expectations; optimism fades when faced with the reality that life does not grant one's demands." (192).

I think this is a difficult concept to grasp, especially for younger people.  It's very difficult to imagine death, because we are still so far removed from it (hopefully).  We possess an idealistic sense of death. Health declines, and people suffer and die when they reach old age.  Oftentimes this is not the case, and it's shocking and difficult to understand.  I first experienced this shock when I attended the funeral of a high school classmate who died from a medical condition.  This girl was someone who had appeared healthy, who was young, who had her whole life ahead of her.  It made me realize that life does not play out the way it's supposed to, and youth does not automatically buy you a full life. I also worked in a hospital and experienced first hand, patients who remained hopeful despite grim realities.  Some of them were terminal, and just wanted to enjoy whatever time they had left.  They were hopeful that life could still provide them with some happiness.  Other patients were diagnosed with difficult medical conditions which were not curable.  They remained hopeful that a cure could be found, yet they accepted their diagnosis and wanted to live life as fully as possible.  They did not just sit around waiting.  My experience with these patients really helped me grasp what Lasch says about optimism vs hope.  Patients remained hopeful even when the news could not have been more disappointing.  They were not defeated when they realized that their expectations would not be met.