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2010-04-06 issue:

Health-care providers learn of 'Googlies'

Mennonite Health Assembly focuses on 'navigating in a sea of change.'

by Everett J. Thomas

Print Article

Many of the 235 health-care providers who gathered at the Mennonite Health Assembly in Norfolk, Va., March 4-7 take care of people who were born before 1973. But they heard that it is the people born after 1973 who will lead massive changes in our culture over the next 10-20 years.

In the opening session, Leonard Sweet (pictured), vice president of academic affairs and dean of the theological school at Drew University in Madison, N.J., said those born before 1973 are Gutenbergers—meaning our lives have been shaped by the printed word and the print version of the English Bible first introduced by Gutenberg. Those born after 1973—the year Google and cell phones were introduced—Sweet called "Googlies."

Googlies are comfortable with the new TGIF world: Twitter, Google, iPhone and Facebook, Sweet said.

"This is the culture we have," Sweet said. "God has chosen you and me to do a ministry of healing now."

The TGIF world does not communicate with words, said Sweet, but with images.

"Gutenbergers use words and points," he said. "Googlies use images and stories. Gutenbergers are immigrants in this culture; Googlies are the natives. ... We used to have kids to work the fields. Now we have kids to work the remote."

Googlies can find any information they need, said Sweet, which means there is no longer a need for someone to decide what they should learn.

“These Googlies are the first generation in history who do not need authority figures to access information,” he said. “But they need authority figures to assess the information.”

But this TGIF world won't last long, Sweet predicted. In 15-20 years, holograms will be so common that it won't be possible to tell if a person is real without physical contact.

"In 20 years you will be able to trust only what you touch," Sweet said, "because what you see may be a mirage, an avatar. ... The [computer] screen will disappear, and we'll move entirely into a holographic world."

National health-care reform: In a March 6 plenary session, Mennonite health-care providers got in touch with the political battles in Washington surrounding efforts to pass health-care reform.

Tammy Alexander, from Mennonite Central Committee, brought an up-to-the moment report on the efforts of President Obama to get legislation through Congress. Alexander is legislative associate for domestic affairs in MCC’s Washington Office. "President Obama hopes to use the budget reconciliation process and have [health-care legislation] passed by the Easter recess," Alexander said. She also said the budget reconciliation process can only address budget implications and revenue streams in the Senate.s version of the bill.

The budget reconciliation process in the House of Representatives cannot change the Senate's language on abortion, immigration or national vs. state-based exchanges, she said. The problem with using the budget reconciliation process, Alexander said, is that "it allows for an unlimited number of amendments. So the Republicans are planning to filibuster by amendments."

Blind singer/songwriter Ken Medema provided a concert on March 6 using narratives from Bible stories in his songs to illustrate the theme of the event, "Navigating in a Sea of Change."

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Additional Notes

Medical humor
An easy familiarity with the human body provided some humor for health-care providers at Mennonite Health Assembly. Kenton Derstine, Harrisonburg, Va., reported that his discussion group was concerned about unprecedented ethical issues introduced by new technology.

“You might have a nurse texting a friend while caring for a patient," Derstine said. "One member of our group reported a doctor taking a personal cell phone call while doing a pelvic exam. Fortunately he was using a Blue Tooth, so both hands were free."

Two nursing students also gave presentations. During hers, Goshen (Ind.) College senior Michelle Miller described her first clinical experience.

"I was taking care of this 88-year-old man with chronic diarrhea," she said. "The supervisor told me to give him a bath. So he sat on the toilet while I gave him a bath and changed his diaper. I had never seen a naked man before, let alone an 88-year-old man. I don't suppose there is any way to prepare for that."—Everett J. Thomas

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