Power in participatory democracy

Editor’s note: This week’s column is written by Middlesex United Way intern Kaitlin Binnington, a recent graduate of Baylor University, earning her master of social work degree.

Throughout the last four months, the Middlesex United Way and Middletown Works have partnered to create a comprehensive asset map to discover assets surrounding workforce development, economic development and educational assets. Through its work, the team was able to identify 104 assets within Middlesex County and across the state.

The asset mapping process allowed us, as a team, to reflect on the goals we have for a preferred future, and the strengths that already exist in our community to take steps toward that goal. The asset mapping process allowed us to meet each week as a team to identify and define assets so that we could create a physical map of all the assets identified.

An asset is the skills and knowledge or programs that an individual or community already has. These assets can be used to cultivate positive change for the individual or community.

Engaging in leadership of the asset mapping process taught me how to be attuned to those around me, and allowed me to be a part of helping to create space for people to be real. When we faced George Floyd’s murder, the domestic violence incident in Middletown, and the other homicide in Middletown, we broadened our scope of identifying assets to address the immediate need in our community.

We identified new assets within domestic violence, voting education and immigration education.

Throughout my internship, I have had the ability to participate in learning more about the ALICE population and how to serve them. Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed represents those in our communities who are working — yet still struggling to make ends meet.

Through asset mapping, developing collaborative partnerships, and managing both the local 2020 ALICE fund and the statewide COVID-19 response fund, I learned valuable skills about community development, project management, and being able to make a real difference in the communities I interact with.

At the beginning of my internship, I read a book, “How People Get Power,” by Si Kahn, explaining that “without grassroots organizing that builds power for ordinary citizens, there is no constituency to fight the changes in public policy in such critical areas as health care, education, and jobs.”

This internship, above anything else, taught me the power behind participatory democracy and that engaging citizens in the process of growing into our future is the most influential method of making real community change.

I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to connect with those at Middlesex United Way, and develop positive relationships toward change. I could not have imagined a better internship to mold me into a master of social work with a specialization in community practice.

The asset mapping project it can be viewed at tabsoft.co/3j6ebk9.

MIDDLETOWN — In the midst of a pandemic, the public regularly hears about the need for a COVID-19 vaccine. This, coupled with an ongoing debate in this country about whether to vaccinate children, may leave some confused about what vaccines do and why they are so important.

Vaccines keep us healthy and teach the immune system how to fight illnesses that can cause significant illness or death, according to Dr. Cliff O’Callahan, pediatric faculty and director of nurseries for Middlesex Health. O’Callahan likens vaccines to a vitamin or other supplement that someone takes to boost their body’s defense system — except they are better, he said.

Vaccines boost a particular part of the body’s defense system in very specific and powerful ways that are scientifically proven to be more beneficial than any vitamin or supplement, he said.

O’Callahan, who has practiced medicine around the world, says most young parents have not experienced what life was like when people were paralyzed by polio or got encephalitis after having the measles. This sometimes causes them to question the value of vaccines.

They never saw someone hospitalized for having the chickenpox or continuously coughing for two to three months because of the whooping cough, Callahan said. Due in large part to vaccinations, the spread of these diseases is eradicated, or very limited, and that has changed our global health system.

“Vaccines protect us, and they undoubtedly transform our world,” Callahan said. “They continue to be vital, even in an age when we have significantly improved hygiene and nutrition, and it’s important to get the vaccines recommended by your doctor.”

The goal is to administer vaccines before a person would likely encounter certain diseases and when the body is capable of creating that protection.

For example, young children receive a series of vaccines and then receive a few additional doses to increase the likelihood that their immune system will fight off infancy diseases, such as pneumonia and meningitis. Adolescents receive the human papilloma virus vaccine at 11 or 12 — well before they start to have sex — because once they have a few partners their likelihood of contracting the virus increases, as does their risk of cervix, anus or throat cancers.

The fastest growing type of cancer in the United States among men is cancer of the larynx, or throat, from HPV.

Parents should discuss what vaccinations their children need, and when they need them, with their pediatrician or family practice doctor. To attend school, children must be up-to-date on the vaccinations required by the state of Connecticut. O’Callahan says medical offices are working hard to catch up after a slow spring due to the pandemic.

The coverage rate for typical vaccines fell over the past few months, which is risky for the children who did not receive them, and for unimmunized children who depend on good herd immunity to protect them, he said.

Some families may not want to vaccinate, or may want an alternate vaccine schedule. The pediatrician said Middlesex Health works with them, engaging them in a very open and frank discussion about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines from both scientific and personal and parental points of view.

“Our belief is, that if we can do a good job caring for those children and their families, and listening respectfully and educating thoughtfully, we eventually might be able to convince some of them to either partially or fully immunize their children,” he said.

What happens when parents choose not to vaccinate?

At this time, all staff and patients are expected to wear face masks at a Middlesex Health facility due to COVID-19. If a child does not receive all their recommended vaccines and has a fever or a suspicious rash or cough, extra precautions must be taken and the medical office front desk or the emergency department must be informed of the situation.

Children who do not receive their vaccinations have very different risks and could potentially spread otherwise preventable illnesses to others.

Children who are not immunized have a higher risk of getting and spreading those preventable diseases. However, they do get these diseases more rarely today, compared to 20 or more years ago, because more than 90 percent of other children are vaccinated, creating a protective herd immunity around these vulnerable unprotected youth.

O’Callahan urges families who are considering visiting Europe when travel restrictions are lifted to be cautious because of the tremendous surge of measles across the continent — from Ireland to Romania.

In 2018, there were 83,540 measles cases and 74 related deaths. That rate has slowed in the last year, but France, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia are still hot spots struggling with large outbreaks, he said.

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted with permission from Middlesex Health of Middletown.