![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/c2tblog-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Consumer-Choice.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat consumer choice does an essential worker have other than to wear a mask and gloves? What consumer choice does the hairdresser mother of a disabled, medically fragile child have when her employer reopens a salon and her state disqualifies her for unemployment if she doesn’t return to work?* What consumer choice do I have when a police officer without a mask stops me for a broken tail light and asks me to exit the car? My mask will protect him, but his lack of a requirement to wear one puts me at a risk that I would not choose as a consumer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am all for individual responsibility. And good health is facilitated by individual choices. But it is unrealistic to develop policies that fail to recognize that some populations do not have the same access, means, and knowledge to make healthy choices. Filling these gaps is where our institutions have the opportunity to shine. As a whole, they are failing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are left having to determine the best path to health on our own personally and as a community through and around many obstacles. For some of us, the obstacles are an inconvenience. For others, they may be deadly. Right now, so many of us are trying to figure out how to survive, thriving may feel like a pipe dream. More on that in other posts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the moment, let\u2019s focus on healthy choices.<\/em> The top 5 stay the same:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even these basic choices may be harder right now. Food shortages can derail a menu plan. Your daily task list may now include childcare in addition to work. That leads me to another healthy choice: Be kind to yourself. It is less important to perfectly execute a plan than to do your best and let go of the rest! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, it may be better to let the chores pile up for a day while you do something to reduce stress: read a book, binge watch, craft, paint, build something, plant some flowers, play video games, bike, bake, do yoga, or just pet the dog. It\u2019s useless to pretend that this is a normal year. It\u2019s not. What worked for you before may not now. It\u2019s a great time to explore changing feelings and perceptions and be open to new inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other health choices may be more complicated:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Any consumer choice should take into consideration your priorities, intentions, values, goals, flexibility, and resolve. It should be informed by facts. And it should take into account barriers beyond your control. Which brings us to today\u2019s million dollar question, what should I do to avoid COVID-19?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to reducing the risk of contracting COVID-19, in general, less contact with people equals less risk. While maximum isolation is possible for some, it is not a realistic choice for others. In order to make responsible decisions, each of us must understand the risks of our potential behavior to ourselves, our families, and our communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, getting enough solid facts about SARS-CoV-2 on which to base a risk assessment is difficult. I believe it\u2019s worth the effort, but it requires diligence and determination to ascertain the pertinent facts. With a novel virus, a swiftly changing knowledge base is to be expected. We\u2019re learning as we go. But dissemination of reliable facts during this pandemic has been stymied by state health departments sending out contradictory, confusing messages, a questionable performance by the CDC, and misstatements from the WHO. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for a single source of guidance, I\u2019d recommend this article <\/a>published in The New Yorker<\/em> \u2013\u201cAmid the Coronavirus Crisis, a Regimen for Re\u00ebntry\u201d by Atul Gawande. The regimen is based on what healthcare workers at Mass General Brigham have learned about transmission through trial and error. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You may not have the consumer choice to stay home, but doing what you can to minimize risk doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re scared or weak. It can mean you value staying healthy and keeping others healthy. It can mean that you\u2019re strong enough to stay positive without social interaction. It can mean that you\u2019re willing to do whatever you must do to protect the vulnerable. It can mean you respect healthcare workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Minimizing risk is a healthy consumer choice! <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/us\/coronavirus-us-cases.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2705186<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n *This is the policy in Arkansas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Make the consumer choice\u2026these words are ringing in my ears after hearing them in a governor’s press conference this week. They were uttered in response to a question regarding whether reducing restrictions on businesses is a good idea given a huge spike of COVID-19 cases in that state. “If you are scared\u2026make the consumer choice … Continue reading “Make the Consumer Choice a Healthy One”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2911,2908,2910,2909],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3999"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3999"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4009,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3999\/revisions\/4009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cooking2thrive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}