Analysis Of Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs By Paul Farmer

Paul Farmer is unlike the typical American doctor, regarding the way that he treats his patients. Farmer addresses the medical concerns of the Haitians who come to him, but he also focuses on the problems that are unstated. Something in particular that Farmer strongly believes in is making sure that his patients feel comfortable with him and the treatments they undergo. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory organized into a triangular, tier model. At the top of the model is full self-fulfillment, which Maslow believed can never actually be reached until we, as human beings, have satisfied our basic and psychological needs. Along with their medical needs, Farmer dedicates his life to insure that his patients have their physiological, …show more content…
These needs are the most important because they are direct channels to other needs, such as love or acceptance (Maslow). Our physiological needs include but are not limited to: food, drink, shelter, and warmth. Farmer received several grants from various institutions and made over $100,000 each year from Harvard and donated every single bit he made to Partners In Health, a public charity that he founded. Partners In Health almost fully funded Zanmi Lasante, a beautiful citadel located in one of the most impoverished and diseased parts of Haiti. “But Zanmi had built schools and houses and communal sanitation and water systems throughout its catchment area. It had vaccinated all the children, and had greatly reduced both local malnutrition and infant mortality” (Kidder 22). Among these accomplishments, Zanmi Lasante also established programs for women’s literacy and prevention of AIDS. Several sicknesses arouse from unclean water and this opened Farmer’s eyes to the importance of water to public health (Kidder 89). Children and their families were developing diseases from leaving their water uncovered for days and then drinking it. Farmer, along with engineers, came up with a plan to distribute the water in healthier ways to those living in Cange. The amount of infant deaths drastically decreased once water was better …show more content…
Safety needs include a sense of security, stability, and protection from the weather. Farmer dedicated himself to changing the lives of those in poverty, especially those living in Cange. With the help of his friends and partners, Cange and the surrounding villages were the start of a public health system (Kidder). Just medical care wasn’t enough. Farmer wanted his patients to feel safe and taken care of. The hospitals and clinics all had plenty of medicine, water, and electricity. Farmer also decided to come up with “fire line of defenses” set up throughout the communities. “These would include vaccination programs, protected water supplies and sanitation, and at the heart of the heart of the defenses, a cadre of people from the villages trained to administer medicines and give classes on health, to treat minor ailments and recognize the symptoms of grave ones”(Kidder 90). Lafontant rebuilt a school in Cange to give more learning opportunities to the community. The school became very popular with children and their families. People went there to be taught lessons on health and how to read and write. Some even believed that if they had known how to write or known more about health, they wouldn’t be in poverty like they currently were. Malnourished children were provided with free meals. Not only did the school provide knowledge and food, it also provided