ealth systems are issuing an SOS. This was the case before, during and now after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Deloitte 2022 Global Health Care Outlook, “The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the dynamics of public health. The scope and persistence of this global crisis have exposed vulnerabilities in countries’ public health systems and impacted their ability to effectively detect and respond to the continually shifting emergency in a multidimensional way that could have mitigated its impact.”
The world is not only continuing to recover from the pandemic. Our health systems are also seeking to mitigate the health impacts of climate change and build healthy, resilient communities. To meet these challenges, we need practical solutions that evolve the continuum of care and take a more integrated approach to health.
Given projected health workforce shortages and the complex global health challenges the current system is insufficient and inefficient. Climate change and its growing impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, and health—alongside geopolitical conflicts, food insecurity and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases globally—are all long-standing challenges with various intersections complicating public health. As world leaders convene, they should consider three practical areas to move beyond the doctor’s office and strengthen health systems: self-care as healthcare, incentivizing preventative care, and fully addressing determinants of health beyond the body itself.
Self-Care is Healthcare
Health systems largely focus on “sick care.” As such, only 3% of healthcare spending in Europe and the United States is focused on preventative care. Conversely, in the guideline on self-care interventions for health and wellbeing, 2022 revision, the World Health Organization (WHO) “recommends self-care interventions for every country and economic setting as critical components on the path to reaching UHC, promoting health, keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable.” Self-care enables people to take care of themselves, at home, with or without the help of a healthcare provider, supporting all eight recommendations identified in the UHC2030 Action Agenda.
Shifting resources towards self-care can:
- help improve the effectiveness of health systems;
- free up healthcare providers to care for patients in critical need;
- empower people with the tools they need to take better care of the health today, helping them to avoid sickness – and entering the system – tomorrow
The United for Self-Care Coalition is mobilizing a WHO resolution to codify the value of self-care. The goal is to improve overall integration of self-care into the healthcare continuum, with community, state, and federal governments working together to both educate and change habits. This comes at a critical time when the health impacts from climate change are on the rise and the people most impacted are ill-equipped to cope with them. Self-care becomes their only form of healthcare.
Policy Should Incentivize, Support Preventative Care
One of the best ways to prevent disease—whether it be the common cold, heart disease, or the next COVID-19—is to take care of your health every day. We need to bridge the gap between care in the doctor’s office and care at home. In order to enhance people’s health, particularly as they face increased symptoms and ailments due to climate change, they require health literacy know-how with relevant science-based self-care products and tools, which can be delivered through improved policy frameworks.
For instance, more could be done to foster the safe shift of certain prescriptions to over-the-counter drug status. These transitions have been proven to reduce doctor visits, thereby easing the burden on strained national healthcare budgets. According to an article published in the Brazilian Journal of Economics and Health (JBES), every $1 spent on over the counter drugs saves $7 for Brazil’s public health system—about the same ratio as observed in similar studies in the U.S.
Countries that have started to integrate self-care into their public health systems are seeing improvements in community health. For instance, in Indonesia, prior to 2000, more than 40% of children under five years old were stunted due to malnutrition. Working with public and private stakeholders, the government prioritized accessibility of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation as a part of their public health programs, leading to a 10%+ decrease in under-five stunting, that will likely continue to improve as a more systematic approach to antenatal care is progressing.
Improving Health Goes Beyond the Body
It’s known that promoting healthy choices and improving access to healthcare, alone, won’t improve wellbeing given the diverse determinants of health. Healthcare must move beyond symptoms, diagnosis and treatment to improve the community ecosystem that enables health—from harnessing digital technologies (enabling telehealth and health research), providing accessible, affordable and sustainable transportation (helping someone get to a doctor’s appointment or pharmacy) to healthy foods available in local stores (to improve nutrition). By engaging in multi-sectoral action, stakeholders need to be in lock-step with health agencies to improve health for all.
Additionally, when we consider determinants of health, there is an amplifier added to the ecosystem: climate change. Extreme weather and increased temperatures are causing poor air quality (leading to respiratory issues), extreme heat (impacting heart health), and impacting agriculture yields (leading to food insecurity and malnutrition), among many other health impacts. Similar to the other vectors in the ecosystem, “solving” climate change is often looked at in a silo—lowering carbon emissions. A more integrated approach, connected to health and wellbeing, is needed to prepare health systems for these concurrent permacrises and ensure we improve livelihoods globally.
As world leaders convene to shape the future of healthcare, behavior change is needed. People need to be empowered to take care of their own health and there’s opportunity for health system frameworks to support this in a more holistic and integrated way.
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Rapidly Evolve Healthcare to Meet the Moment
Image via Adobe Stock.
September 20, 2023
Globally, health systems were in crisis even before the pandemic—now they are more vulnerable than ever. For more resilient health systems, we should see self-care as healthcare, incentivize preventative care, and address determinants of health beyond the body, writes Bayer's Daniella Foster.
H
ealth systems are issuing an SOS. This was the case before, during and now after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Deloitte 2022 Global Health Care Outlook, “The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the dynamics of public health. The scope and persistence of this global crisis have exposed vulnerabilities in countries’ public health systems and impacted their ability to effectively detect and respond to the continually shifting emergency in a multidimensional way that could have mitigated its impact.”
The world is not only continuing to recover from the pandemic. Our health systems are also seeking to mitigate the health impacts of climate change and build healthy, resilient communities. To meet these challenges, we need practical solutions that evolve the continuum of care and take a more integrated approach to health.
Given projected health workforce shortages and the complex global health challenges the current system is insufficient and inefficient. Climate change and its growing impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, and health—alongside geopolitical conflicts, food insecurity and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases globally—are all long-standing challenges with various intersections complicating public health. As world leaders convene, they should consider three practical areas to move beyond the doctor’s office and strengthen health systems: self-care as healthcare, incentivizing preventative care, and fully addressing determinants of health beyond the body itself.
Self-Care is Healthcare
Health systems largely focus on “sick care.” As such, only 3% of healthcare spending in Europe and the United States is focused on preventative care. Conversely, in the guideline on self-care interventions for health and wellbeing, 2022 revision, the World Health Organization (WHO) “recommends self-care interventions for every country and economic setting as critical components on the path to reaching UHC, promoting health, keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable.” Self-care enables people to take care of themselves, at home, with or without the help of a healthcare provider, supporting all eight recommendations identified in the UHC2030 Action Agenda.
Shifting resources towards self-care can:
- help improve the effectiveness of health systems;
- free up healthcare providers to care for patients in critical need;
- empower people with the tools they need to take better care of the health today, helping them to avoid sickness – and entering the system – tomorrow
The United for Self-Care Coalition is mobilizing a WHO resolution to codify the value of self-care. The goal is to improve overall integration of self-care into the healthcare continuum, with community, state, and federal governments working together to both educate and change habits. This comes at a critical time when the health impacts from climate change are on the rise and the people most impacted are ill-equipped to cope with them. Self-care becomes their only form of healthcare.
Policy Should Incentivize, Support Preventative Care
One of the best ways to prevent disease—whether it be the common cold, heart disease, or the next COVID-19—is to take care of your health every day. We need to bridge the gap between care in the doctor’s office and care at home. In order to enhance people’s health, particularly as they face increased symptoms and ailments due to climate change, they require health literacy know-how with relevant science-based self-care products and tools, which can be delivered through improved policy frameworks.
For instance, more could be done to foster the safe shift of certain prescriptions to over-the-counter drug status. These transitions have been proven to reduce doctor visits, thereby easing the burden on strained national healthcare budgets. According to an article published in the Brazilian Journal of Economics and Health (JBES), every $1 spent on over the counter drugs saves $7 for Brazil’s public health system—about the same ratio as observed in similar studies in the U.S.
Countries that have started to integrate self-care into their public health systems are seeing improvements in community health. For instance, in Indonesia, prior to 2000, more than 40% of children under five years old were stunted due to malnutrition. Working with public and private stakeholders, the government prioritized accessibility of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation as a part of their public health programs, leading to a 10%+ decrease in under-five stunting, that will likely continue to improve as a more systematic approach to antenatal care is progressing.
Improving Health Goes Beyond the Body
It’s known that promoting healthy choices and improving access to healthcare, alone, won’t improve wellbeing given the diverse determinants of health. Healthcare must move beyond symptoms, diagnosis and treatment to improve the community ecosystem that enables health—from harnessing digital technologies (enabling telehealth and health research), providing accessible, affordable and sustainable transportation (helping someone get to a doctor’s appointment or pharmacy) to healthy foods available in local stores (to improve nutrition). By engaging in multi-sectoral action, stakeholders need to be in lock-step with health agencies to improve health for all.
Additionally, when we consider determinants of health, there is an amplifier added to the ecosystem: climate change. Extreme weather and increased temperatures are causing poor air quality (leading to respiratory issues), extreme heat (impacting heart health), and impacting agriculture yields (leading to food insecurity and malnutrition), among many other health impacts. Similar to the other vectors in the ecosystem, “solving” climate change is often looked at in a silo—lowering carbon emissions. A more integrated approach, connected to health and wellbeing, is needed to prepare health systems for these concurrent permacrises and ensure we improve livelihoods globally.
As world leaders convene to shape the future of healthcare, behavior change is needed. People need to be empowered to take care of their own health and there’s opportunity for health system frameworks to support this in a more holistic and integrated way.
