My Why Is the Gap — And Why Bridging It Matters in Healthcare
- maryrburrell
- 37 minutes ago
- 2 min read
This perspective didn’t come overnight. It grew out of almost four decades of living as a patient inside the healthcare system.
Because Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Recovery Story
The gap between what medicine measures
and what patients actually live with.
The gap between a “successful outcome”
and what real recovery feels like.
The gap between innovation moving fast
and patients being left behind.
I learned about this gap by living inside it.
I was the patient who looked “fine” on paper
while struggling at home.
The one whose numbers improved, but whose life didn’t magically snap back into place.
The one expected to be grateful for survival while quietly figuring out the rest… alone.
That gap?
That’s where confusion lives.
That’s where fear lives.
That’s where too many patients and caregivers fall through the cracks.
Why Bridging the Gap Matters🌉
For Patients 🧍🏽♀️
Fewer surprises after treatment
Better questions → better choices
Feeling seen, believed, and prepared
For Caregivers 🧑🧑🧒
Less guessing and late-night panic
Clearer expectations of what recovery really looks like
Validation that what they’re seeing at home matters
For Clinicians 👩🏻⚕️
More honest conversations
Stronger trust and follow-through
Care plans that actually work in real life, not just on paper
For Research and Innovation. 🔬
Outcomes that reflect real recovery — not just numbers
Better engagement and retention, because people stay when they feel supported
Solutions designed with human-centered endpoints.
For the Whole System 🏥
Trust gets rebuilt
Care becomes more human
Innovation reaches the people it’s meant to help
Bridging the gap isn’t slowing medicine down.
❤️🩹 It’s about making sure progress doesn’t leave people behind.
❤️🩹 It’s about translating science into real life.
❤️🩹 About honoring lived experience alongside data.
❤️🩹 About making room for the human inside the system.
That’s why I speak up.
To connect.
To bridge.
Closing the gap is how people stop surviving and start living again. 🌉
💬 Tell me: Where do you see the biggest gap in healthcare today?
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