Rethinking Healthcare

imagine leaving the doctor’s office

with a prescription obtaining just one

single pill

one single pill that you take once and

it will instantly improve

your cognitive abilities your memory and

your thinking skills

this marvel of modern medicine will also

improve your strength

improve your balance reduce inflammation

and reduce

insulin resistance it would also

significantly reduce

your risk of developing chronic

conditions like dementia

heart disease cancer depression anxiety

recurring strokes and type 2 diabetes

not only that it would also increase

your heart’s working capacity

improving blood flow and the delivery of

oxygen and nutrients

to your brain and throughout your body

of course this would also help

to improve your mood as you’d feel

younger more capable

energetic sleeping better waking up

better strong

happy and sensational now imagine this

pill

having access to it would make it almost

illegal

for doctors not to prescribe it to all

of their patients

no matter their age or medical record

now the problem is that there is no such

pill

the prescription that i’m talking about

is exercise in fact there are countless

articles and studies

showing the importance of physical

activity for health and well-being

that are being published every week

month and year on end

now obviously it’s impossible to fit

exercise into a pill

well at least for now but still the

importance of physical activity

does still not have seem to have found

its rightful place

in modern medicine as medical

professionals

don’t incorporate it nearly as much as

they should

into the treatment plans prevention

plans for their patients

now is there a problem here

somehow it seems like this kind of

preventative strategy

is beyond the scope of what’s included

in today’s modern medicine

today modern medicine is amazing

at treating illnesses diseases chronic

conditions

through diagnostics lab work x-rays

pharmaceuticals and treatment plans

in fact developing a chronic condition

is no longer a death sentence

but rather just a lifelong membership to

increasing number of prescriptions

and back and forth trips to the hospital

or the local outpatient clinic

somehow it seems like the better we

become at treating such conditions

the less we or our healthcare system

care about us developing them in the

first place

today more than 40 of the world’s

population

suffers from a chronic condition and

roughly 25

suffers from two or more now how is it

possible

that the prevalence of chronic disease

is on the rise

when our healthcare system and modern

medicine are making such big strides

with new technologies and diagnostic

tools being innovated

by the minute do we really have the

right focus here

or is our traditional way of seeing

understanding and accepting health care

really the most optimal for us for you

for me for the everyday person

i believe not now imagine the fire

department

think about how they work they spend the

majority of the time

energy and effort on preventing fires

and i’m not just talking the use of

smoke alarms i’m talking about

informing advising educating supervising

inspecting and governing

everyone from the single individual to

communities

private companies government authorities

all in order to make sure that if

there’s even a small or

minor risk for a fryer breaking out

they’re able to find it

take care of it before this possibility

of a fire breaking out

turns into reality only a small segment

of their day-to-day work and efforts has

to be spent on actually putting out

fires

because they do such an amazing job at

preventing them

now let’s pause and imagine

if we had the same focus in our health

care system

imagine if doctors and nurses spent the

majority of their time energy and

efforts

on the preventing their patients from

becoming sick

a shift from treatment treatment

treatment to prevention prevention

prevention

and when i’m talking about prevention

i’m i want you to think that

i’m not just talking about primary

prevention where completely healthy

person

is preventing the onset of a chronic

condition and it’s very important so let

it be clear that i’m

also referring to secondary and tertiary

prevention when a person already

diagnosed

with one or more chronic conditions is

preventing the onset

of another one an additional one

maximize your health focus on prevention

no matter the starting point

so would this shift in focus also change

the way that we then perceive modern

medicine

and healthcare let’s find out

if i ask you to think about the word

healthcare

what do you think about was it perhaps a

boring

gray concrete building also perhaps

known as a hospital

a hospital you rarely want to step foot

in or visit and was it related to

sickness pain and trauma

now why isn’t the word health care

associated with something enthusiastic

motivating and positive i mean shouldn’t

it be

why can’t healthcare be associated with

taking care of one’s health

being the best version of yourself

preventing the onset

of a chronic condition while staying

healthy happy

harmonious health

care now all over europe

the americas and southeast asia

the modern medical tradition has long

been governed by paternalism

and despite some of our best efforts

it’s never been able to break away from

it

today we mostly understand the human

body as made up of many different small

parts

and we believe that if we can somehow

take and make

each individual part work well

then somehow the whole person will work

well

and this is accomplished through

diagnostics lab work

x-rays pharmaceutical and treatment

plans and then modern medicine think

that

they’ve done their part leaving it up to

the single individual

the patient to implement all of it and

when they fail to adhere to the

instructions and the recommendations

from their doctors and nurses

they’re being called non-compliant

non-compliant to their medical plan and

non-compliant to the treatment plan

they’re simply just being non-compliant

as if it’s

their fault their fault for not being

able to take this

rigid plan and fit it into their daily

lives

when it was never really designed for

them in the first place

and no treatment plan has ever worked if

the patient isn’t motivated

or compliant with it

well let’s imagine again that we turn

this system completely

upside down or inside out whichever way

you want to think about

and starting off let’s not think of

people as just patients

why well because no one sees themselves

as just a patient

outside of the hospital or anywhere else

they’re a person

a person with their own goals

aspirations social life struggles and

limitations

so let’s move away from just calling

them patients

and start thinking of them as people

and as people they should not just play

a passive part or simply be

assigned a rigid medical treatment plan

but instead they should be the driving

force they should own

their own health journey why

well because they are the ones solely in

control

of which pills they want to take which

diets they want to follow

how much they exercise whether they use

alcohol tobacco or drugs

what their sleep habits are like and how

they handle stress

and frustrations in fact

they are just like all of us are in

strict control of the variables that

drive

90 percent of the determinants of how

well

we live with chronic conditions whether

we get them in the first place

and how well we live with them

so shouldn’t modern medicine focus on

helping people improve those

90 that’s prevention

the reactive high acuity stuff like

operations and traumas

are very important as well but the focus

should not

only be on having the best reactive care

but also on the best proactive and

preventative care

the least risky operation is the one

that never needs

to take place now with an increased

focus on prevention

healthcare professionals need to be able

to offer people the right tools

information and motivation to best

become the driving force

of their health journey customized

for each person here you can’t get away

with trying to meet a person’s specific

medical health needs with the current

rigid health care structure and plans

that you already have in place

a professional professional-centric

model what’s easiest for the doctors

and the nurses but rather need to

reorganize and redesign

the healthcare business model to be

evolved

and designed for the specific needs

of the people who should use modern

medicine

only as a compliment to their health

journey

in this more advanced healthcare role

then the main skill sets

of medical professionals should not only

be that of lab work

x-raying prescribing the right pills

diagnostics or creating treatment plans

it should also include that of a health

coach a health coach that

influences that partners educates

and cheers you on a coach that helps

people make the right decisions

by providing them the right tools

information and motivation to do so

now unfortunately being able to

influence someone or being a people’s

person

isn’t what is going to get someone into

medical school and it doesn’t help any

aspiring doctor to pass that physiology

or biology exam

but somewhere in that decade-long

education that medical professionals go

through

should there be an emphasis on inspiring

influencing

coaching the very same people that they

will spend the rest of their

professional careers helping

a big part of medical school is the feel

of anamnesis how

to collect the right information by

asking the right questions and that’s

great

but where are the courses on motivation

where the courses and how to actually

influence someone

to make better health decisions

so of course this is not something

that’s just going to change overnight

but what is one thing that modern

medicine

can do today to start influencing and

inspiring people

to become more active in their medical

plans

one thing well if we go back

to that amazing small pill with numerous

health benefits

well you know the one that doesn’t exist

well the pill doesn’t exist

but the amazing health benefits they do

and they don’t need to be packaged into

a pill to be prescribed to people

now physical activity is amazing medical

exercise

even more so and when i’m talking about

medical exercise i’m talking about

physical activity that is planned

structured and continuous

for the purpose of conditioning the body

lowering the risk of becoming

chronically ill

enhancing both fiscal and mental

well-being

ultimately increasing quality of life

it’s simply a magic cure an amazing

recipe for a healthier life

now let me ask you this when was the

last time

your doctor told you that for every hour

you exercise

you live between two to five hours

longer

for every hour that you exercise you

live between two to five hours longer

it’s true just following then

the international recommendations solve

at least 150 minutes of moderate

intensity exercise a week

you could live more than 10 hours longer

now imagine doing this

week in week out month after month and

year after year

the only thing you’re going to have to

worry about is asking yourself

what are you going to do with all this

extra time in your life

if we focus on prevention medical

exercise

should be incorporated into every health

and treatment plan

for every person no matter the person’s

starting point

age medical history

modern medicine could start focusing on

this very simple idea

that has the potential to create amazing

long lasting health results

this simple idea

could be the catalyst for this new way

of structuring and thinking

of healthcare the strong focus on

prevention

so even if you’re not being pushed by a

doctor

and even if you’re not being influenced

or coached into living a healthier

lifestyle

remember you are in charge of 90 percent

of your health determinants you are in

charge

of your own health journey so even if it

isn’t prescribed to you

create your own magic pill you take it

you get up you get moving you get active

every day every week and every month

this way you prevent disease

instead of putting out fires and so let

me leave you with this

become the driving force become the

pilot and become the master of your own

health journey

so that the next time that you hear

health care

don’t just think of a boring gray old

building

think about taking care of your own

health

and i promise you your health will take

care of you

thank you for listening

you