Editorial: “What is Given May Be Gained”
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
Simone Weil (February 3, 1909–August 24, 1943).
Sarah R. Blanton, PT, DPT, Editor-In-Chief
November 14, 2022
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
Simone Weil (February 3, 1909–August 24, 1943).
JHR Editor-in-Chief, Sarah Blanton, PT, DPT reflects on ways in which we may call upon the humanities to help grapple with the “4,000 click” problem of electronic health records that erodes clinician morale and reduces patient interaction. She does this first by recognizing the humanistic impact of technology, and then by calling upon interdisciplinary collaborative problem solving and critical inquiry to develop innovative solutions on individual and societal levels.
As we continue to grapple with multiple challenges to our collective well-being, Sarah Blanton explores the healing power of hope in her latest editorial. How, she asks, might we transform “a landscape of loss” into a “horizon of hope?”
Download the article (pdf) “If I ever write my autobiography, I’m going to title it: ‘I was born colored and crippled but now I’m black
None of us could ever have imagined that we would be a part of one of the generations of history. But our challenge has arrived. In an inspirational message, JHR Editor-in-Chief Dr. Sarah Blanton examines what it means to navigate these uncertain times. She demonstrates how a humanities perspective can well be what saves us and makes us stronger. “I truly believe this cohort of clinicians, experiencing this pandemic, will emerge with exceptional levels of resiliency, compassion, cognitive flexibility, and critical thinking skills…,” she concludes. “Our world will be remarkable in ways we have yet to imagine.”
In a timely and important editorial, Jamie Fleshman, SPT calls for new amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. She identifies a critical contributor to American disability: the continued inaccessibility of public spaces. Attention must be drawn, she argues, to an American infrastructure that has been constructed for “a certain set of abilities,” and is profoundly outdated.