Italian Health Care & Healing Through Prayer (SOC 490)

     It's hard to believe that this is the final blog for our Comparative Health class here in Italy. Before this class, I admit that I did not know much about the details of health care, or at least I didn't know how complex it could be. This class has definitely made me more aware of not only the health care of the United States, but other countries as well, especially Italy. 

     Last week, for class, we surveyed Italians about their thoughts on the Italian health care system. After practicing our Italian with Ippolita, our Italian professor, and perfecting our dialogue and questions to prepare for the interviews, we headed to the market. Because of the rain, we headed to an indoor market, which also included an Italian university. While it was nerve-racking at first, we got more comfortable speaking with Italian people of all ages. Some refusals and ten completed surveys later, here are some of the results: Half of the people interviewed were male and the other half female and their ages ranged from 19 to 69. Most rated their own health as "good" (buono) but others rated it as "fair" (discreto) and when asked to rate their doctor, most replied "good", but the others answered "fair" or "poor" (pessimo). Just over half of the people surveyed have been to the hospital before, while the other 40% have not. Those that have been to the hospital before, either rated their care in the hospital as fair or good. The most interesting results of the survey in my opinion were the answers given to the question "Is a nationalized system of health care a good system?" Eight people answered this question with "no," while only two replied with a "yes."

     Expanding on the readings in Universal Health Care: Opposing Viewpoints, Johnathon Ross believes that expansion of Medicare would be the best way to provide universal access to quality health care. He thinks that a single-payer universal insurance pool like Medicare, financed by payroll and individual taxes, is the simplest and most efficient way to make sure that health car would be available to everyone who needs it. Somewhat simlarly, Atul Gawande thinks that while our health care program needs to change, we cannot "swap out our old system for a new one...But we can construct a kind of lifeboat alongside it for those who have been left out or dumped out." He thinks that we need to look at our past and our current health care system, and work off of that to improve it and change it, rather than starting over new, which he believes, surely won't work. 

     Another topic we have been pondering over and discussing in class is whether or not we are able to cure disease through the power of prayer. While I believe prayer is powerful and can help people get through various life obstacles, I have not witnessed an actual disease being cured through the power of prayer. There have been many instances of miracles and healing from God through prayer or the Holy Spirit, however. On a different note, I do not think that one should resort to prayer as their only form of healing, because one may need serious medical attention for a disease or illness. Although medical attention is necessary for the control of a disease, I believe prayer and spirituality can contribute to the healing of a person.