It started with a realization.
"Poor health can function similarly to poverty." Being poor is expensive. You have to spend way more just to barely get by, meanwhile being forced to pass up stable opportunities because you just didn't have enough money to be able to make it. Your time is under attack.
Health problems can be the same way. You have one or more conditions that could hypothetically get better, but you don't have what you need to actually make the recovery. Your life to some extent is on hold until you recover. And sometimes, the consequences of not improving right away are permanent. Here I'm not talking about being unable to pay for medication or therapy- that has a financial cause. Health poverty is non-monetary, and it's the type of stuff that no amount of money could change. Here are some examples:
-The help you need doesn't exist. It's not something you have family to help with, and its not profitable enough for someone to create a business or service around it.
-The help you need isn't available because it isn't available to anyone. The system is done for.
-Your condition is stress-induced, and you experience recurring traumatic situations or stressful conditions.
-To recover, you must use healthy coping skills. But your culture encourages toxic behaviors and punishes anything healthy you try to do.
-You have a medical diet, but you are forced to eat food on the "no" list because nothing else is available.
-Your condition is rare and misunderstood. You did your research, but you can't get treatment or accommodations because no one has heard of it before and they don't care enough to learn.
Non-monetary support poverty is similar to non-monetary health poverty, but it's for any area of life. Someone might not have any health issues or financial issues but be unable to pursue basic opportunities or reach basic personal goals. People who may struggle with it may include:
-those who don't have a family
-those who have a family, but they are not available -those in domestic violence situations -those who are autistic (This is different from health poverty because there is no optimal health to be reached, and it is an identity. Autistic burnout would go under the other category.) Support poverty may be heavily related to financial poverty or non-monetary health poverty, but what makes it different is that the problems don't go away if the person is healthy or becomes financially well off.
How can these things be addressed?
1. A customization service.
Many disability services are designed around specific situations and provide highly specific tasks. Demand for disability services is through the roof- people will do anything to make their pain stop or get their survival needs met. But supply is close to non-existent. People who are disabled may be in a lot of pain, but they often don't have the support they need to start their own business. People who can often don't listen to disabled people because they don't see them as human. One of the biggest problems is that most buyers are governments- the business doesn't solve the client's pain point, it solves the public opinion of a politician's voter base. The demand is completely cut off from the supply.
Creating a disability service that provides customized support would help. The products or services would be whatever people need. The supply adjusts to the demand in real-time. It's only purpose is to be customized, and it's so much so there's not even a product or service description. The customer says what they need, the service says "yes!" and compiles their resources. Customization has no constraints of social, cultural or time constructs.
Ways existing businesses and organizations can be accommodating:
-Learning about clients. Sitting down and saying "What do you struggle with? What should I do research on and are there sources you recommend?"
-"What do you specifically need for this to be successful?"
There might be financial restraints. It would be important for the service to be efficient in how services are provided and be able to break down the cost for someone that has an expensive need to figure out what the best option is within the context.
2. Unconditional labor. This would be a piece of the service described above. It would essentially be like a free Uber service for assistance, whether it be physical labor, emotional labor, or other type of labor. If you imagine a well-off, healthy, loving, retired parent who is always available to assist with family emergencies, transportation, caregiving, medication management, babysitting, tutoring, moving, graduation attendance, that's what this service would be. Everytime someone asks "Can your family help with that?" that's what this service would be. Obviously some of these things are their own services, however this unconditional labor service would assist as a back-up for cancellations, lack of accessibility, or if the assistance needed is not enough for it to be possible to receive though a service, as small but necessary tasks often aren't profitable enough to motivate someone to show up. The service would be free for clients. There would be an option to build working relationships with clients to help develop consistency and certainty. Workers would be sorted by ability to do difficult tasks (such as intensive caregiving duties) and would have appropriate pay increases. The app would be set up in a way that would encourage boundaries. Workers could have different notifications and permissions for different clients. They could block off their schedule for time off or clients that need extra assistance, and could choose which clients can see their schedule.
3. A support swapping group.
A mutual aid group is a network of people that support each other. A support swapping group is a mutual aid group that specifically assists with health-related tasks and has somewhat of a barter aspect. A person would make 1 request from the community for something they need, and 1 offer for a type of thing they have the ability to do. It'd be on a volunteer basis so it wouldn't matter if the person helping and assisting didn't have a perfect match.
Examples of things people could offer or ask for include:
-body doubling sessions (body doubling is an ADHD skill!)
-making phone calls
-sending emails
-meal prepping
-cleaning
-transportation
-going to appointments together
-physical therapy exercise assistance
-setting up accommodations or occupational therapy ideas
-fun activities like art, make up, or games
-a shoulder to cry on
-advice on specific topics
Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Could this be a solution? What would be helpful for you? Is it something that a customized service could provide? Is it something that can't be provided by a service?
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