More Faculty Profiles . . .
As a newly appointed member of Governor Gregoire's Health Insurance Partnership Board, Cindy will have plenty of time to consider this and similar questions. The board's primary function is to guide the implementation of two pieces of legislation that passed in Washington State in 2007, S5930 and HB1569. Cindy calls the two bills "innovative" and sees the passage of this legislation as a sign of the tangible energy around health issues in this state. She acknowledges that the task ahead of the Health Insurance Partnership Board is difficult and expects that the biggest challenge will be "the political one - hearing all voices, considering them, and finding a way to move forward."
At a recent meeting, Cindy's colleague asked, "Are we talking about the health care business or are we talking about health?" This question, which on the surface seems to be about semantics, is really indicative of the sort of reevaluation that could pave the way for new directions in public health. On the front lines of health policy, Cindy sees a shift in the way people are thinking about health. She says, "We are rethinking this whole enterprise. We are reconsidering the emphasis on health care and focusing instead on health." To Cindy, health is less a function of doctor's visits and more a function of variables like education, the environment, and empowerment.
As a true multidisciplinarian with faculty positions in three departments at the University of Washington, Cindy has a keen mind and appreciates ingenuity and critical thinking. She sees her role as a professor as very important and hopes that the legacy of her career will be "a lot of people using the skills that I helped them hone, and feeling more productive and satisfied with what they are doing as a result." Her greatest reward is when students are able to see something from a new perspective and understand an idea in a way they did not understand it before.
She encourages students to study public health because it is enormously important, and "for people who have want to do something that's valuable and makes a difference, it's certainly that." She emphasizes that the public health field is welcoming to people from many disciplines, especially as we begin to broaden our concept of health. Though hesitant to make a prediction about the future of public health, Cindy believes that "the horizon looks pretty good."
Faculty Profile
Carolyn Watts
Before talking with Dr. Carolyn (Cindy) Watts, I'd never heard anyone compare health care with pizza. But Cindy's work has forced her to think about whether health is a universal right - like education - or a commodity - like pizza. She says that the increasing availability of health care technology and its associated expense will require our society to examine the costs of medical care against its benefits. We will also have to find a way to bridge the divide between people who feel strongly that health care is a basic right and those who feel that health care is a commodity. We will be forced to ask ourselves, what are we comfortable with some people having and other people not having?As a newly appointed member of Governor Gregoire's Health Insurance Partnership Board, Cindy will have plenty of time to consider this and similar questions. The board's primary function is to guide the implementation of two pieces of legislation that passed in Washington State in 2007, S5930 and HB1569. Cindy calls the two bills "innovative" and sees the passage of this legislation as a sign of the tangible energy around health issues in this state. She acknowledges that the task ahead of the Health Insurance Partnership Board is difficult and expects that the biggest challenge will be "the political one - hearing all voices, considering them, and finding a way to move forward."
At a recent meeting, Cindy's colleague asked, "Are we talking about the health care business or are we talking about health?" This question, which on the surface seems to be about semantics, is really indicative of the sort of reevaluation that could pave the way for new directions in public health. On the front lines of health policy, Cindy sees a shift in the way people are thinking about health. She says, "We are rethinking this whole enterprise. We are reconsidering the emphasis on health care and focusing instead on health." To Cindy, health is less a function of doctor's visits and more a function of variables like education, the environment, and empowerment.
As a true multidisciplinarian with faculty positions in three departments at the University of Washington, Cindy has a keen mind and appreciates ingenuity and critical thinking. She sees her role as a professor as very important and hopes that the legacy of her career will be "a lot of people using the skills that I helped them hone, and feeling more productive and satisfied with what they are doing as a result." Her greatest reward is when students are able to see something from a new perspective and understand an idea in a way they did not understand it before.
She encourages students to study public health because it is enormously important, and "for people who have want to do something that's valuable and makes a difference, it's certainly that." She emphasizes that the public health field is welcoming to people from many disciplines, especially as we begin to broaden our concept of health. Though hesitant to make a prediction about the future of public health, Cindy believes that "the horizon looks pretty good."
