How health services are turning to preventative measures
With advances in medical technology increasing at rapid rates, we take a look at how we, as a nation, are beginning to consciously prevent illness before it arrives on our doorstep…
As a nation, we’ve been pretty sick.
In England alone, one in five adults smoke, a third of men and half of women don’t meet recommended levels of physical activity, and almost two-thirds of us are overweight or obese. Meanwhile, anxiety and depression seem to have us in the grips of an epidemic; our minds are suffering as much as our bodies.
You only need to pass a fleeting glance at a newsstand or have a quick flick through Twitter to see our health services are strained under the burden; billions upon billions are spent on treatment for diseases that arise from obesity and diabetes, even more for smoking. All of this paints a terrible picture, doesn’t it?
Well, it doesn’t have to be this way. Because a lot of our collective illnesses can be prevented, or at least we can limit our exposure to them with the right positive action.
Now while this might seem obvious – eating healthy, exercising regularly, not smoking or drinking heavily and so on so forth are all positive decisions to make regarding your own health – there is a trend occurring: we, as individuals are turning to preventative care to take better care of ourselves – exercising, eating a good diet – and our governments, schools and workplaces are implementing preventative measures to better educate us… before we need treatments for diseases we can prevent.
At home, the NHS has implemented a triple-prevention strategy to educate patients, workers and visitors on how preventative measures can improve general wellness and health. Specific patient-targeting programmes have proven results in reducing diabetes-related admissions, while a sugar tax on fizzy drinks sold at hospitals and workplace wellness plans aim to effectively lead by example.
And it’s the same story abroad, too – Canada are leading the way in preventative healthcare on the opposite side of the Atlantic, while in the US, healthcare services are all “committed to giving certain preventative services for free as part of their plans”:committed to giving certain preventative services for free as part of their plans – from blood pressure screening to counselling for alcohol misuse.
Picking up the kids from school? Here’s why introducing mindfulness into their day can help reform bad behaviour: https://t.co/SGlrL1DurQ pic.twitter.com/Tg2I0EE123
— Floatworks (@Floatworks) 27 February 2017
As for our mental health, we’re all slowly starting to take better care of minds (or at least we try to, right?!). And the powers that be are seeing the benefits of preventative measures to improve mental health, too: schools are taking up mindfulness and meditation courses by the dozen, encouraging even toddlers to consider the benefits of a healthy mind, while workplaces that wouldn’t have given it a thought ten years ago now offer mental health care as part of their health insurance plans.
That’s not to say things are perfect.
Schools cutting mental health services to plug funding gaps, warn MPs https://t.co/sCHqI4jSwF
— The Guardian (@guardian) 1 May 2017
Just recently, a slew of news stories broke about schools cutting funding for mental health services, but while the evidence mounts for preventative healthcare and the worldwide trend to better take care of ourselves, we’re slowly moving in the right direction.
