Because in the end, “there is nothing on this screen that matters.”

I will be giving a talk at MidAmerica Nazarene University on Oct 29, 2015 on the IoT, Quantified Self, genetics and biomarker to Nursing, Health Sciences and Mathematics students.?My goal is to encourage them to become interested in health IoT and Innovation and how IoT and Innovation will help the health and wellness of society in the future.????The talk is open to the public.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/internet-of-things-seminar-2-genetics-preventative-health-and-health-decisions-tickets-18947893660?

I believe that medicine, health and wellness will be radically transform in the next 10 years with advances in smartphones, health apps, sensors, biomarker scanning and medical A.I.?– just like telecommunication and computing in the last 20 years – or just like medicine 100-150 years ago with the discovery of the germ theory, antibiotics and stopping bloodletting, and purging.

?After presenting how future technology promises to help improve health and wellness of each of us, I plan to conclude my talk by sharing the following story:

In the book The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype, and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine's Computer Age by Dr. Robert Wachter, he shares a very powerful reminder that we need to focus on people and not technology.??I can related to this story because my Dad died 10 years ago from pancreatic cancer and a stroke.

“Mr. Gordon (a patient with terminal illness surrounded by his family who is now just receiving comfort care) lay still, now unconscious from his morphine drip.?…. but then I noticed a problem, …. the nurse had forgotten to disconnect the bedside cardiac monitor, which continued to flicker a few feet above Mr. Gordon’s head. And so it was that at one of life’s most profound moments, a moment nearly impossible in its mystery and poignancy, a moment paradoxically rich with promise and ineffable sadness, all four family members’ eyes were raised, not searching for Truth or for God, but watching little squiggles, each the electronic signature of a heartbeat, march across a rectangular screen. Mr. Gordon’s son was sitting closest to the monitor. I put my hand on his shoulder. Speaking to all of them, I said, “Your dad is comfortable, and I’m so glad you could all be here with him. I’m sure he is, too. But,” I pointed to the heart monitor, “there is absolutely nothing on this screen that matters.”?And I pressed the off button. As the screen went to black, the family members shared a look of shock, then clarity, and then— what was it?— acceptance, warmth, gratitude, transcendence, maybe even love. After a moment of gathering themselves, each turned to Mr. Gordon, squeezed his hands, stroked his arm, touched his cheek. The scene was pure, peaceful, and— in a way that is hard to describe— quite beautiful.

And then he died.”

I will add, for those of you who are or will be caregivers, the new technology tools will aid you but when you go to help the sick, the hurting and the dying, remember to look your patient in the eye, connect with them, hold their hand.?Let them know you care.?To paraphrase Jesus, care for them as you would wish to be cared for.?And to each us as we interact with our friends, family, people we love and even strangers, put the smartphone down!?Look them in the eye – connect with them – maybe even touch them instead of touching your touch screen.?Because in the end, “there is absolutely nothing on this screen that matters.”