• April 29, 2021

Days Gone By – Adapting to a new reality in health and wellness

Success: a challenge to change.

Western medical systems based on hospitals, highly trained professionals, and high-tech equipment with little role for patients and caregivers have been remarkably successful. Indeed, science and technology continue to revolutionize healthcare: who would say that many infectious diseases have been controlled, maternal health (maternal / neonatal mortality) has been improved, and vaccine development has reduced the large-scale viral epidemic .

However, as our populations age and suffer more long-term conditions such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s treatment / care, and coronary heart disease, they cannot simply be treated with an established diagnostic and monitoring system to combat disease. half a century ago.

The basic problem in all rich countries is that diseases have changed, but health services have not really changed. The health problems of the early twenty-first century are not the same as those of the mid-twentieth century, when today’s Western health systems were formed.

They require services in the home and community, as well as in the hospital and, fundamentally, the participation of patients and caregivers.

Greater effect on disease than smoking

As reported in 2010, an analysis (of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from 1993 to 2008 of 3.5 million adults) by researchers from Columbia University and the City College of New York showed that obesity now has a greater effect on the disease, whereas smoking has. a greater impact on deaths. Why? The number of adult smokers decreased 18.5 percent during that time, while the proportion of obese Americans increased 85 percent.

Findings like these now account for a growing majority of illnesses and health care costs in wealthier countries.

Of course, as witnesses to the much-publicized health care reform last year, attempts are being made to make changes. However, reimbursement systems reinforce the old model, institutions and vocational training are largely built around it, commercial interests promote it, and hospitals are seen by the public as the cornerstone of healthcare.

Dread Cost of the Clinic; Fear of changing even more

As we have seen, the biggest challenge of all is the questions about resources. What should someone do if they cannot afford the system but are afraid to approach (generally) more affordable alternative or complementary medicinal techniques?

The answer appears to lie in training health workers in grassroots wellness and introducing technology that is “translatable into education and practice” into the mainstream. Today, many emerging healthcare professionals are very interested in global health and eager to experience and learn from cultures and countries that are not restricted by our health history.

Competence, professionalism and cooperation in comprehensive healthcare

For example, a small but vibrant educational institution in the US Pacific Northwest is empowering people differently, creating new kinds of viewpoints, engaging families and communities, and focusing more on promoting health in rather than simply addressing disease. The American College of Health Sciences (ACHS) encourages competition, professionalism, and cooperation in comprehensive health care. Graduates build a holistic foundation for personal health care and are confident in finding ways to use, preserve, and share knowledge in natural medicine to provide to patients. ACHS students are gaining the comprehensive experience that will help them become the healthcare professionals we need for the 21st century.

And governments can do much more to support efforts like these, just as the US State Department relies on a “3-D” philosophy to further its mission: defense, diplomacy, and development. Governments can promote the exchange of ideas and people and help health and welfare workers in richer countries work in poorer countries. In doing so, they will teach themselves the subtitles of social and cultural health practice and, at the same time, help pay off a debt of the many professionals who have emigrated to richer countries. As the Department of Defense has shown, it can be a win-win situation. Security can breed peace that can lead to even greater sustainable development.

As Lord Nigel Crisp, former executive director of the NHS and secretary of the UK Department of Health, points out in his new book Turning the World Upside Down: The Search for Global Health in the 21st Century: “When old methods no longer work, are they? Are we willing to pursue new ideas outside of the mainstream? Or are we content to stick to the professional structures and work arrangements created 50 years ago? “

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