JOYFUL PIECE #56

When 2 + 2 = 5 or more...

Recall your grade school arithmetic days. There were hard and fast principles and rules. For example, 2 + 2 = 4, right?

But what if we were able to make 2 + 2 = 5, or 6 or more? Is that possible? Perhaps not in arithmetic, but it is possible in other realms.

We are used to paying for medical care. Medical professionals are used to charging for that care. However, not everyone has affordable insurance or the resources to pay the ever-increasing medical fees for medical services.

Here is a conventional approach: An indigent person, or a person suffering from unemployment, or a scarcity of funds, needs a medical procedure performed. S/he pays for it and incurs crushing debt. Or the procedure is performed at discount or pro bono, as many compassionate medical professionals offer. The person’s medical condition is addressed and corrected, and s/he returns to normal life.

But how do you impart the principle of investing in our own health? The procedure was done pro-bono or at a discount— end of story.

In a novel approach, Dr. Demetrio Águila is performing procedures after a patient completes a stipulated number of hours of community services at a social services non-profit. The non-profit then notifies Dr. Águila to schedule and perform the procedure. That is the 2 + 2 = 5 case, no out-of-pocket costs to the patient.

And here is where 2 + 2 can equal 6— by virtue of the investment the patient has made in community service, the patient now feels committed to a healthier lifestyle.

But that is not the end of it. Many patients report enjoying the community service work that they performed and continue to do so. We are at 2 + 2 equals 7 as the number of volunteers increases. And the benefits grow because the community is strengthened through community service, or 2 + 2 equals 8 or more…

This innovative approach to healthcare services is reason for JOY.  Read all the details of how this approach came to be implemented. Kudos to Dr. Águila!

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