Last Friday, I sat down to write an article about the notion of “ignorance is bliss.” I didn’t get to it right away. And on January 8, 2011, Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Arizona by a would-be assassin. I followed the story all day Saturday and most of Sunday, learning in real time the details of the 19 others who were wounded and of the six who were killed. I spent much of the day feeling as helpless and sick about the tragedy as did millions of others across the world.

So now I pick up the idea of “ignorance is bliss” once more, after a weekend that felt a little like that Tuesday in September, 2001, when the world watched the World Trade Center fall, the Pentagon burn, and a plane crash in Pennsylvania. The news coming out of Arizona was and still is simply heartbreaking. Trying to make sense of it seems completely futile, as inevitably the deaths of innocent people are.

So. Ignorance is bliss. But if that’s true, then I should have turned off the TV at the first sign of trouble and spent the weekend going about my own private business. Right? JWT Intelligence recently touted that “ignorance is bliss” in their roundup of the 100 Things to Watch in 2011. As JWT Intelligence reports, “From general privacy concerns raised by tools like Google Maps with street view to personal security concerns around broadcasting one’s whereabouts on Facebook or Foursquare to national security concerns around the information disclosed by Wikileaks, more people question how much information really needs to be readily available.” In the age of information, how much knowledge is too much?

JWT Intelligence refers to the dissemination of our own information rather than the taking in of others. But there’s an argument for both ways. When a tragedy occurs, is it better to know all the details when there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it? And conversely, in this era of over-sharing, are we compromising ourselves by letting the world in on our own minute details? According to this line of thought, yes, ignorance is not only bliss, but integral to our own personal safety.

So where is the line? Certainly, there is some validity to the argument that we have become so immersed in over sharing that we risk losing our individuality into one massive glob of Facebook/Twitter/Foursquare. With so many people shouting into the wind, who do we listen to? And more to the point, who has has something worthwhile to hear?

And perhaps there would be “bliss” in cutting ourselves off from the information highway – or at least, its 24-hour daily update thread. But that would be a bliss many don’t want a part of, myself included. Yes, I could have turned away from the tragedy in Arizona. I was hundreds of miles away at the time. I couldn’t go give blood. I couldn’t comfort the families of the victims. But then, I would have never heard the stories of the incredibly brave people who fought shooter Jared Loughner. I kept watching the events unfold in Arizona to hear some positive news – and finally, it came with the acknowledgment of the heroes of the day.

There’s retired Army colonel Bill Badger who, though shot himself, clocked the shooter over the head with a folding chair and then held his wrist until authorities arrived.

There’s Patricia Maisch, 61, who grabbed the shooter’s magazine when he dropped it.

There’s Giffords intern Daniel Hernandez, 20, who is credited with saving Rep. Giffords life by applying pressure to her wound right after she was shot.

And there’s countless more to be honored because they were doing the right thing at the right time.

There would have been no bliss in staying ignorant of their acts.

Image: kenlund

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Kaiser Permanente is prescribing big doses of sustainability in the sixth season of its $50 million Thrive ad campaign.

Two new ads – Emerald Cities and Connected – reinforce the health care provider’s commitment to the planet by dramatically reducing paper use – no small task for an industry long married to countless charts and forms. For most of us, being ordered to “Fill this out” is as rote as, “Hop on the scale,” and just as painful.

The Emerald pitch describes how Kaiser is allowing patients access to their own medical data via Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, the world’s largest civilian electronic health record.

Not just a handy core tool for patients, the online system is apparently saving thousands of trees annually. And, as of September 2009, Kaiser estimates its members completed six million doctor’s visits without using one gallon of gasoline. Guess they got the help they were seeking by going online.

“We will be entirely paperless by 2010 and these ads illustrate how we are doing our part in some way to help the environment,” I’m told by Lisa Ryan, Director of National Advertising at Kaiser. “Having a healthy environment creates a healthy community that helps individuals thrive.”

In these appealing ads, actress Allison Janney, the KP spokeswoman since 2004, drives home the point in her now familiar, smooth-as-a-surgical-glove delivery:

“By putting an end to paper medical records, we have ushered health into the digital age.”

To paraphrase the tagline: I think that I shall never see, a 62-page medical report as lovely as a tree.

“Our ode to trees talks to the fact that when you have online capabilities and a way to connect, it  does eliminate the need to drive to a facility or to an office visit,” says Ryan.

The Connected spot highlights the convenience of securely e-mailing your doctor, checking your medical records, reviewing test results and booking appointments online. This spares not just trees but the stress of being forced to listen to bad “music” after being placed on hold the second your doctor’s receptionist answer the line.

Kaiser clinicians are digitally connected to each other, which ultimately helps them stay connected to  members. The closing line of the ad summarizes, “At Kaiser Permanente, we believe that if knowledge is power, shared knowledge is even more powerful.”

Personally, I have struggled to attain the elusive power of shared knowledge while advocating for loved ones at hospitals where overworked, impatient doctors seemed agitated when pressed for too much info. Getting them to return phone calls was even harder. Then again, my family doesn’t use Kaiser. Maybe their doctors are more generous.

“Our primary care physicians are at center of who we are and we have great accessibility in person, on the phone and email,” says Ryan. “Ive had great experience with my own doc whom I have spoken to on the phone and through email. All of our new alternative ways to reach out and stay connected really help.”

I was glad to see the green connection extends to its Thrive website, which give readers tips on being “thriving communities” by buying locally-grown food, using fewer shopping bags, making their own cleaning supplies and avoiding exposure to chemicals in the home.

Ryan told me all of this effort, including the ad campaign, has been an extension of proven sustainability practices at Kaiser’s newly-built facilities, such as centers in Modesto and Santa Clara, using solar panels, pavement treatments to recycle run off water and friendly denim material in the walls as green insulation.

“The advertising is a great bridge between the sustainability message and the innovation of who we are,” Ryan  says. “It was a huge undertaking to go digital and to retrain the care staff, but it all speaks to our overall concern with the health of individuals and the community. ”

Prior to the green thrust, Kaiser treated us to daily ads on prevention, reminding our unhealthy nation that the more we exercise, eat well and get screened for diseases, the less we will have to spend on health care.

I think the ads resonate with the radio-listening masses facing poor health along with a poor health care system that has yet to be reformed.

With $50 million invested in the message, let’s hope Kaiser proves to be one of the needed cures.

Images: Kaiser Permanente, Wiki

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