• Suzanne Muchin has a misison to change how communities treat their children. Discuss and analyze the state of children in your area, then do something to try and improve it. See what options exist for a mentor partnership between your group and a local school or daycare center. Contact Civitasand Ivillage and obtain some of their promotional videos and literature. Distribute it to the new mothers in the labor ward at a local hospital. Discuss what are the necessary elements in forming a 'civita.' Where are we failing?
• Ron Noble certainly has his work cut out for him at Interpol. To appreciate what it is Interpol does, try tagging along on an investigation at the local level, like a TV detective crew. See if a local precint will allow you to observe crime-solving from the initial call to the (hopeful) eventual arrest. Pay particular notice to how information is shared and exchanged between different agencies, precints, and departments. Does it flow well? Where could it be streamlined? How would you share crime intelligence info. Does your company have any techniques that could help crime-solvers out, or vice-versa?
• Parkland Hospital isn't making any excuses about their patient load. In fact their quality of care seems unreal. How can they be so good? Go to the big, public-access, university-funded hospital and ask for a tour of the labor and delivery area. Compare their response time and practices to those you read about Parkland. Do the patients seem as satisfied? Try and get the head of the delivery unit come speak at your meeting. See if anyone in your group is interested in becoming a part-time mid-wife, and discuss the role mid-wives can play in easing the load on doctors and creating safe birth environments.

Daniel Richards contributed this month's Next Steps.

October 2002 Connexus | Flash Points | Next Steps

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