This activity is designed for participants to reflect on their role as community health providers who must balance public health considerations against the value of patient autonomy. Participants will practice having difficult conversations with people who disagree with them.
Gunfire: It’s Independence Day. You are sitting outside your house and watching fireworks. Several patriotic neighbors begin shooting guns in the air to celebrate. It is unlikely that a stray bullet will hit you, but you realize that if one does, it could be deadly. Frightened by the gunfire, you make your way inside. As you run to your door, a bullet lodges in your shoulder.
Transmission: You attend a party on Memorial Day with your children. Several other neighborhood families bring their children to celebrate as well. You know that there is some chance that the neighbors’ children are not vaccinated. Someone is coughing and gasping, and you recognize the sound of whooping cough. However, you realize that it is unlikely that you or your children will get pertussis, so you should be sure to gather your children and leave the party. Ten days later, your son, who has been vaccinated, starts coughing and gasping. He is diagnosed with pertussis, and the cough lasts for two months.
Arguments by analogy: Is this analogy apt?
If so, how should this inform how healthcare organizations manage contagious transmission?
If not, where does the analogy fail? Can you think of a better analogy that would be more effective and convincing?