When Healthcare Fails to Care: A Call to Action

“A system that treats the illness but abandons the person is not healthcare—it’s harm disguised as help.” - Mary Coughlin

When Healthcare Fails to Care

My 89-year-old mother was recently hospitalized for a UTI. When she gets a UTI, she becomes delirious—confused, disoriented, vulnerable. The hospital treated her infection with IV antibiotics but ignored her basic human needs.

• She was left unbathed despite incontinence.

• She was left immobile for five days, either in bed or in a chair.

• She was discharged disoriented, weak, and unable to walk.

Within 24 hours, she was readmitted—worse off than when she arrived.

This is not just neglect. It is a fundamental failure of our healthcare system—a system that treats diseases but not the human beings who experience them.

This is what happens when we strip away the soul of healthcare.
This is what happens when we reduce people to a diagnosis instead of a person.
This is what happens when trauma-informed, person-centered care is absent.

We see this in neonatal intensive care.
We see this in pediatric care.
We see this in geriatric care.
We see this everywhere.

🛑 This is not just bad care—it’s harmful.
🛑 This is not just an oversight—it’s a violation of human dignity.
🛑 This is not just a one-time failure—it’s a systemic crisis.

We must demand better.

If healthcare does not acknowledge the whole person—their mobility, their dignity, their agency—then it is failing at its most fundamental purpose: to care.

💡 We must advocate for trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate care at every age.
💡 We must speak up when our loved ones are treated as objects rather than human beings.
💡 We must challenge healthcare institutions to prioritize not just treatment, but true healing.

I am calling on every clinician, administrator, educator, and caregiver—let’s change this.
Because care that ignores the person is not care at all.

Are you with me?

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1️⃣ SPEAK UP—Advocate for Loved Ones

Encourage people to be active advocates for their family members in hospitals and healthcare settings.

• Ask questions: Who is responsible for hygiene? Mobility? Emotional well-being?

• Insist on trauma-informed care: If a loved one refuses to walk or engage, ask why and push for compassionate, person-centered strategies.

• Refuse to let basic human needs be ignored.

🔹 Call to Action: The next time you or a loved one is in the hospital, don’t just ask about the treatment—ask about the care.

2️⃣ DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY—Call Out Systemic Failures

• Share experiences—personal stories bring visibility to systemic failures.

• Write reviews—hospitals and facilities often respond to public pressure.

• Contact administrators—send letters or emails demanding changes in policy.

• Engage policymakers—push for better standards in elder care and patient rights.

🔹 Call to Action: If you’ve witnessed neglect in a healthcare setting, share your story. Call out the gaps. Let’s make this impossible to ignore.

3️⃣ EDUCATE & EMPOWER—Spread Awareness

• Share this message—on social media, in conversations, at work.

• Educate clinicians—encourage hospitals and institutions to implement trauma-informed, person-centered care training.

• Push for trauma-informed policies—in hospitals, nursing facilities, and home health care.

🔹 Call to Action: Tag a healthcare professional. Ask them: “How do we make care truly caring?” Let’s start a conversation that sparks change.

4️⃣ SUPPORT SOLUTIONS—Get Involved in Reform

• Support organizations that push for trauma-informed, patient-centered care.

• Encourage hospitals to implement quality improvement initiatives that track dignity-based care metrics.

• Join or create local advocacy groups focused on elder care and holistic healthcare reform.

🔹 Call to Action: If you’re in healthcare, push for policies that measure care beyond clinical outcomes. If you’re not, demand better for those who are.

This isn’t just a problem—it’s a crisis. But change starts with us.

What will you do to make healthcare human again?

Drop your thoughts, experiences, or commitments below.

Let’s build momentum. Let’s demand better. Let’s start now. 💙

#HumanCenteredCare #AdvocateForChange #CaringIsEssential

Thanks for reading me today,

Mary 😥