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The world today is dedicated to technology, advancing research and the access to unlimited information on all manner of subjects. Each of us relies on technology not only for our questions about life but also for\u00a0receiving the\u00a0answers. And oh, by the way, we want our answers NOW! The speed with which we live our lives is increasing everyday and sometimes it can be very frustrating to realize that we can\u2019t \u201chave it all \u2013 and do it all\u201d.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, what has been lost in the race to become technologically advanced,\u00a0is\u00a0the notion of healing our illnesses and addressing underlying CAUSES so that we may each partner with ourselves as positive and loving participants in our own care. The field\u00a0of healthcare is also undergoing a transformation in the 21st century \u2013 a paradigm shift if you will \u2013 toward ever more increasing complexity and technological innovation. For the individual this has many positive aspects, but in many ways it is also becoming increasingly difficult to navigate \u2013 and understand not only \u201cwhat it is \u2013 but how to use it\u201d.<\/p>\n
When I was a child, we saw our doctor for our shots and annual checkups for school. There were relatively no other aspects of this relationship than seeking help if we got sick or injured. The doctor was very often a family friend and most of the time was able to spend quality time with the patient on each visit.<\/p>\n
Today we rely on the healthcare system to serve a wide variety of very complex health needs. The doctor is very often busy and can spend relatively little time discussing our issues in depth because the system is designed to maximise results, revenue, and optimise time. Specialties are now common for everything from brain, heart and lungs to bones, hormones and many others that require a referral from another physician and these visits typically involve\u00a0further testing at each stop along the way (more complexity).\u00a0The patient is \u201cprocessed\u201d and drugs are almost always involved in any recommendation or treatment.<\/p>\n
The juggling of information and treatments is a significant part of any participation in the healthcare system of the 21st century. This complexity \u2013 and cost \u2013 is a major part of the challenge we face going forward in designing a \u201cpatient \u2013 doctor\u201d partnership that can hopefully restore \u201csome\u201d of the basic strengths that were once a part of the \u201colder\u201d system of delivering healthcare to people when it was really a personal and individual service.<\/p>\n
The partnerships that are most important in today\u2019s world of healthcare are the following: pharmaceutical, insurance, medical, government, hospitals, and finally the doctor. The doctor is stuck between a \u201crock and hard place\u201d because the system is driven by money and profits for the most part. Insurance companies control the payment systems and the patient \u2013 and doctor \u2013 are left to try and understand billing systems and other ramifications of the \u201ctreatment process\u201d.<\/p>\n
The way I see it now is that we are EACH responsible for our own health (the new paradigm) and the outcomes of our choices will determine the results that we obtain in securing \u2013 or losing \u2013 our health. In the period between 1988 and 2011, I was unable to afford health insurance so I \u201cbet on myself\u201d and the result turned out well. I used my fitness world as my insurance program and made sure to protect myself from risk to the best of my ability while training my body, mind and spirit to be as healthy and fit as possible.<\/p>\n
Once I qualified for Medicare at 65 in 2011, I continued to\u00a0behave as though I had no insurance and have done quite well with this strategy to the present day. It does not mean that I will NEVER need to see a doctor or use the insurance I now have, it just means that I have been able to live in a world of my OWN making without ever being \u201cstuck\u201d in a system that does not know me and could care less about what I need.\u00a0I believe I am an example of the possibility of health as it could exist in the future if we each take care of ourselves properly every day of our lives and remember the aspects that\u00a0WILL\u00a0characterize our true individual healthcare program:<\/p>\n
This \u201cwellness\u201d concept I am describing is in \u201cplay\u201d today in many forms and is increasingly becoming the \u201cmodel\u201d by which all healthcare programs will be judged in the future. True \u201cprevention\u201d to me is NOT only testing for disease but depends on\u00a0making the best choices we can every single day of our lives and becoming responsible and accountable for those choices going forward (personal responsibility). I am not saying we will never need others to help us because the unforeseen aspects of life always have a way of \u201cshowing up\u201d in our lives regardless of how carefully and thoughtfully we have behaved in our lives.<\/p>\n
What I believe to be the healthcare model of the future going forward will be a partnership not only with ourselves but with professionals who have the time, knowledge, and ability to address our needs from an aspect of \u201chealing \u2013 not curing\u201d what ails us.<\/p>\n
When my father passed away from cancer in November of 1983 at the age of 64, he had taken on no responsibility for what had gotten him sick in the first place. He had also taken no part in his treatment to try and overcome the challenges he was going to face going forward. I believe this \u201cpassive\u201d behavior played a part in contributing to his death at a relatively early age. Smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise and many stressors \u201cseen and unseen\u201d, \u201cknown and unknown\u201d (and much more) probably \u201cdisabled\u201d his ability to know what was happening to his body as he aged.<\/p>\n
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This experience at age 37 probably did more for me than I will ever know since I would be tested in the years ahead by many failures, challenges, hurts, resentments, guilt and suffering \u2013 all CAUSED by me and the choices I made in my own life. The ONE thing I did right was make a commitment to my OWN health and fitness needs and when the time came to deal with the consequences of my choices \u2013 I was able to DO SOMETHING I loved \u2013 and that was run. This is why I can say today that running saved my life \u2013 because I truly believe that it did. Fitness was my anchor.\u00a0My advice to you today?<\/p>\n
Originally printed on\u00a0HealthyNewAge.com<\/a>. Reprinted with permission from Nicholas Prukop.<\/em><\/p>\n
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