they use a lot of alternative medicine,

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http://www.journalstandard.com/articles/2003/12/30/daily_features/hometown_conne\

ctions/feature01.txt

 

Ridott nurse Denise Padfield recently visited Cuba through People to People

Ambassador Program

By Stacey Dach

 

For The Journal-Standard

 

Denise Padfield, of Ridott, came away from a recent 10-day educational trip to

observe Cuba's health care system with two prominent perceptions. First, Cuba's

health care system is not necessarily worse or better than ours - just

different. And second, the people who live in Cuba are no different than the

people who reside in the United States.

 

The FHN Memorial Hospital cardio-pulmonary services nurse, who was surprised

last March by an invitation for the trip from her nursing honor society, joined

35 others - most of whom were doctors and nurses - in the educational observance

of several of Cuba's health care facilities.

 

Beginning on Nov. 30, the delegation visited the cities of Havana, Cienfuegos

and Trinidad. Between the three cities, they toured one orthopedic hospital, one

multi-specialty clinic, two family doctors' offices (one in a city and one in a

rural area), one maternity home and one seminary.

 

Because of the current political climate between the United States and Cuba, the

focus of the tour was strictly observational in nature.

 

" We were right in the room as they were doing procedures or counseling the

patients and were included in what was going on, we just didn't have any

hands-on participation, " Padfield explained.

 

According to Dawn Davis, executive director for Professional Programs with the

People to People Ambassador Program, the group had very little opportunity to

spend time with their Cuban counterparts outside of a clinical setting.

 

" Their contact had to be in a very structured educational environment where we

could document what was happening, " Davis said.

 

 

The delegation itself was also required to make notes on what they saw and heard

during their tours of the different facilities.

 

" We had a scribe that each day our group had to write down the information we

got because this all becomes part of a written report that is submitted to the

government, " Padfield said.

 

Some of the objectives for Padfield and the other nurses in the group were to

examine the role of traditional Cuban medicine in the care of patients, compare

treatment options for various conditions looking at traditional Cuban and

Western medicine approaches, to observe patients and the role of nurses in

caring for the them and to learn about the educational standards and

opportunities available to nurses in Cuba.

 

Cuban vs. Western medicine

 

One of the main dissimilarities Padfield noticed during the tours of the

facilities was a lack of some of the modern medical equipment we have available

to us in the U.S.

 

" The biggest difference, I think, is that they don't have a lot of the

technology we have. This is because the equipment and the people to teach them

how to use it are so far away, " Padfield said.

 

She went on to say that because Cuba owes the United States money, most American

companies won't ship equipment to the country unless it is paid for up-front.

Cuba generally does not have the money to do that.

 

Instead the country relies on getting technology from Japan, Latin America and

South America - countries that are more likely to deal with the Cuban

government, but it takes a long time for those arrangements to get worked out.

 

" One other thing I observed, which was so totally fascinating to me, was that

they use a lot of alternative medicine, " Padfield said.

 

She told of seeing a little boy who had surgery for hip dysplasia the day prior

to the delegation's visit.

 

" On his ear he had seven little beans or pebbles - I'm not just sure what they

were - placed on pressure points in his ear. They had been placed there since

the day before his surgery and they released endorphins. On the day after

surgery, when we saw him, he was having no pain and had had no pain medications

whatsoever. He was sitting on his bed playing and laughing and giggling. It was

so cool, " Padfield said.

 

According to Marilyn Duitsman, a nurse in the Orthopedics Department at FHN

Family Healthcare Center on Stephenson Street, if that little boy had surgery

here, he would most likely have been given something fairly strong for pain.

 

" We would probably have given him a narcotic pain medication, " she said.

 

With such a difference in pain management techniques between the United States

and Cuban medical communities, many may stop to ponder just which way is

preferable for the patient. Padfield offered her thoughts on the subject.

 

" It's not that you can say that what they do is better or what we do is better,

it's just you weigh the differences. It's not like there is a right or a wrong

way, it's just two different ways, " Padfield said.

 

People are just people

 

While the average Cuban citizen's life is very different in some ways than the

lives of U.S. citizens, in other ways it is much the same. For example, there

are no taxes of any kind in Cuba. Every bit of medical care is free including

any medications. Education is free - from grade school all the way on up through

college or vocational school.

 

Cubans pay $1 a month for electricity, but all other utilities (other than

phone) are free, and Cubans have ration books so food is inexpensive.

 

The downside of this though, is that the people have to give the government

almost all the money they make. A housekeeper at one of the hotels told Padfield

that they give 95 percent of their salary to the government.

 

But, despite these fundamental differences, Denise said, the people still seemed

to be very content.

 

" 'Don't worry, be happy' was pretty much the way everyone was, " Padfield said.

" You saw the same kinds of things you do here, like couples holding hands

walking along the beach, kids flying kites and playing baseball, older people

sitting on their front porches rocking and visiting with the neighbors. "

 

And everyone Padfield met was very nice - both on the street and in the health

care facilities.

 

" All of the people were so friendly and eager to talk to us, " she said. " They

just so want to get to know Americans and be our friends. "

 

One moment that really touched Padfield was an experience she had with a Havana

cab driver. She had been shopping downtown and had an arm-full of bags, so she

decided to take a cab back to the hotel. There were two men who worked together

as a team in their private car taxi, a 1964 Chevy in immaculate shape. One drove

and the other sat in back with the passenger and visited with them during the

ride. When Padfield reached her hotel, she got a request from her back-seat

companion she wasn't expecting.

 

" As I got out of the car, he said to me, 'Will you write to me when you get

home?' I said I would and he gave me his address. He was so excited that he had

made a friend and was going to be getting some mail from the United States, "

Denise said.

 

And that desire for dialogue and a friendship was the norm with all of the

people Padfield encountered during her days in Cuba.

 

" That was the thing about the trip that really came home. People are people, "

Padfield said, " They just happen to live south, that's all. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

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