The Power of Community
Community matters. Community builds social connections, helps create a sense of purpose, offers a support network, and brings people together to advocate for and support each other. I believe we have lost quite a bit of the “sense of community” we had in O&P. Last week I talked about the weariness we see in O&P. I think a lot of this stems from the fallout of the COVID catastrophe. In addition to the obvious issues, our ability to participate as a “community” was torn away. Without a strong community, we are hard-pressed to push forward. The World Health Organization noted that the global prevalence of depression and anxiety increased by 25% in the first year of the COVID pandemic. In March of 2023, KFF reported that 90% of US adults believe the country is facing a mental health crisis. I don’t know about you, but I have not seen 90% of the adult US population agree on anything in a decade or two.
We build our professional community by sharing, participating in face-to-face meetings, and by talking about and tackling common issues. Like it or not, we are all struggling with the same things. We learn far more in a circle than we do in rows. In other words, when we are actively engaged, asking questions, sharing stories, trials, tribulations, and solutions, we are far more likely to retain and apply what we learn than when someone lectures us. Don’t get me wrong, it is sometimes more effective and appropriate to learn in a lecture style, especially when new information is being presented.
At the same time, most of the people I am working with are smart, successful people who are dealing with complex challenges in a complex world. Solutions are not “cookie cutter” and to think that way is dangerous. We need to be able to understand the challenge AND understand how others have dealt with a similar challenge, then take the lessons they learned and see if you can apply them to your own situation. You can’t sit down in a room full of people and have meaningful conversations that will give you the insight you need. First, you must have trust. Trust comes from familiarity, familiarity comes from community.
When you have a chance to actively participate in an in-person meeting, don’t make the mistake that content delivery is the be-all-end-all. It is the combined experience of group discussion and participation that makes the content relevant and applicable to your practice. Take advantage of those rare opportunities. This is OPIE’s differentiator. We are committed to the O&P community and to having engaging discussions about how we can provide better care, how we can save money in the practice, or help our people do their jobs better. The OPIE community is powerful, intelligent, and dedicated to O&P. We are all of these things because all of us are way smarter than any one of us. But all that knowledge is useless if it isn’t shared. Are you a part of the community?