he fuel of a nation's wealth is the health of its people. Serving the injured and sick with grace and compassion is a worthy calling. It is vital in every nation's infrastructure. However, more is needed. Not only must we lower the overall cost burden of sick care, we must reduce the very need for sick care. But what does that mean? It means working towards a future where transformation, not just resilience, informs the creation of a true health ecosystem—an ecosystem of informed and self-directed wellbeing. A system designed for small changes that lead to significant economic gain and human flourishing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic we learned quickly that we are all connected. Our communities, industries, and global societies both impact and are responsible for health outcomes. Based on this learning, we must offer a view of the most critical health services not as a response to, but as a reduction of, disease and illness, including the reduction of heart and pulmonary disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes.
Investment in this evolving health ecosystem will bring expanding benefits over time. Like a growing beehive, it will increase in both societal impact and economic value as it matures. Our posture must be long-term and one of purpose and patience. Our stance must also differ from current siloed and short-term prevention programs.
But to create this ecosystem, we must fundamentally rethink our healthcare approach.
First, keeping people healthy cannot be seen as the primary responsibility of our overburdened medical sectors. As an alternative, governments, businesses, and civil society can lead. Collaborative efforts can increase individual health literacy, empower personal health responsibility, and incentivize healthy choices. This approach brings together diverse stakeholders, including technology companies, government agencies, community organizations, and the business sector. These stakeholders can develop new and creative solutions to improve health and wellbeing by working together. Over time, their work will reduce the growing burden on our over-stressed care systems.
Second, we must adopt a view of health that reflects the vital connection between mind, body, and the social fabric. This recognition means prioritizing mental health as a critical component of wellbeing. It also means recognizing social support and trusted networks as essential in promoting both mental health and healthy choices. The intentional building of a health ecosystem will foster new and valuable connections between local, national, and even global communities. It will also require the ecosystem's offering and expansion to be fair and equitable.
Third, the ecosystem must be easy to use and integrated into daily life. We have all we need to start, from proven digital vaccines to digital twins. The talent and raw materials we need already exist today.
These features and outcomes provide practical examples for further exploration.
A true health ecosystem will:
- Foster generations who learn health literacy, healthy behavior, and personal health responsibility.
- Create an easy-to-use personal health score (and optimal target within a value range) that is clinically driven, accurate, current, and actionable.
- Offer a 24/7 "opt-in" AI-enabled, user-friendly Super App (spanning industry boundaries). The Super App will offer expanding services. Leading businesses and brands will be the primary resource for this App that will incentivize and guide individuals toward sustained human flourishing.
- The Super App "beehive" will include cross-industry and local networks on one hand and access to health products and services on the other. These connections will reinforce health literacy and healthy choice related to food, exercise/sport, mental wellness, finance, fashion, and entertainment.
- Provide gateways within the "beehive" for seamless access to community, national, and even global platforms of prevention services (primary, optical, dental, and dermatology care, mental health, labs/testing, and discretionary offerings)
- Offer an "Opt-in" community (in-person, virtually, and eventually globally networked), allowing members to support the achievement of optimal health for others.
- Offer an invitation to partner with causes that resource the poor, those who lack services, and those seeking new possibilities on their journey to flourishing.
- Radically expand the training and resourcing of primary care physicians. These physicians will be rewarded for keeping individuals healthy and will be digitally skilled, health-coach-supported, and team connected.
The Next Normal presents an invitation to move beyond resilience and toward transformation. Though requiring a shift in mindset and investment, a true health ecosystem will lead to significant economic gain. These gains will accrue from initial and expanding ecosystem activities. They will also accrue from the longer-term reduction of non-communicable diseases. The resulting outcome will be the fruit of an equitable and just society: human flourishing.
a global affairs media network
Creating a True Health Ecosystem for Human Flourishing
Photo by Sebastian Stain via Unsplash.
January 22, 2023
The fuel of a nation's wealth is the health of its people, but improvements are needed. We must work towards a future where transformation, not just resilience, informs the creation of a true health ecosystem—an ecosystem of informed and self-directed wellbeing, writes Robert Sundelius.
T
he fuel of a nation's wealth is the health of its people. Serving the injured and sick with grace and compassion is a worthy calling. It is vital in every nation's infrastructure. However, more is needed. Not only must we lower the overall cost burden of sick care, we must reduce the very need for sick care. But what does that mean? It means working towards a future where transformation, not just resilience, informs the creation of a true health ecosystem—an ecosystem of informed and self-directed wellbeing. A system designed for small changes that lead to significant economic gain and human flourishing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic we learned quickly that we are all connected. Our communities, industries, and global societies both impact and are responsible for health outcomes. Based on this learning, we must offer a view of the most critical health services not as a response to, but as a reduction of, disease and illness, including the reduction of heart and pulmonary disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes.
Investment in this evolving health ecosystem will bring expanding benefits over time. Like a growing beehive, it will increase in both societal impact and economic value as it matures. Our posture must be long-term and one of purpose and patience. Our stance must also differ from current siloed and short-term prevention programs.
But to create this ecosystem, we must fundamentally rethink our healthcare approach.
First, keeping people healthy cannot be seen as the primary responsibility of our overburdened medical sectors. As an alternative, governments, businesses, and civil society can lead. Collaborative efforts can increase individual health literacy, empower personal health responsibility, and incentivize healthy choices. This approach brings together diverse stakeholders, including technology companies, government agencies, community organizations, and the business sector. These stakeholders can develop new and creative solutions to improve health and wellbeing by working together. Over time, their work will reduce the growing burden on our over-stressed care systems.
Second, we must adopt a view of health that reflects the vital connection between mind, body, and the social fabric. This recognition means prioritizing mental health as a critical component of wellbeing. It also means recognizing social support and trusted networks as essential in promoting both mental health and healthy choices. The intentional building of a health ecosystem will foster new and valuable connections between local, national, and even global communities. It will also require the ecosystem's offering and expansion to be fair and equitable.
Third, the ecosystem must be easy to use and integrated into daily life. We have all we need to start, from proven digital vaccines to digital twins. The talent and raw materials we need already exist today.
These features and outcomes provide practical examples for further exploration.
A true health ecosystem will:
- Foster generations who learn health literacy, healthy behavior, and personal health responsibility.
- Create an easy-to-use personal health score (and optimal target within a value range) that is clinically driven, accurate, current, and actionable.
- Offer a 24/7 "opt-in" AI-enabled, user-friendly Super App (spanning industry boundaries). The Super App will offer expanding services. Leading businesses and brands will be the primary resource for this App that will incentivize and guide individuals toward sustained human flourishing.
- The Super App "beehive" will include cross-industry and local networks on one hand and access to health products and services on the other. These connections will reinforce health literacy and healthy choice related to food, exercise/sport, mental wellness, finance, fashion, and entertainment.
- Provide gateways within the "beehive" for seamless access to community, national, and even global platforms of prevention services (primary, optical, dental, and dermatology care, mental health, labs/testing, and discretionary offerings)
- Offer an "Opt-in" community (in-person, virtually, and eventually globally networked), allowing members to support the achievement of optimal health for others.
- Offer an invitation to partner with causes that resource the poor, those who lack services, and those seeking new possibilities on their journey to flourishing.
- Radically expand the training and resourcing of primary care physicians. These physicians will be rewarded for keeping individuals healthy and will be digitally skilled, health-coach-supported, and team connected.
The Next Normal presents an invitation to move beyond resilience and toward transformation. Though requiring a shift in mindset and investment, a true health ecosystem will lead to significant economic gain. These gains will accrue from initial and expanding ecosystem activities. They will also accrue from the longer-term reduction of non-communicable diseases. The resulting outcome will be the fruit of an equitable and just society: human flourishing.
