Enhance Your Patient Health Education Tools

By Dr. Jill Bates MS, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP, Whole Health Educator ?

In 1976, a group of Boston area nurses and health professionals felt an urgency to address what their patients told them was missing from their health care experience – Autonomy. These patients wanted to understand the “why” and “how” of their health complaints to take greater control over their health in a preventative and pro-active way. Many doctors scoffed at the idea that patients could take control over their health. In 1982 Boston Magazine wrote an article declaring that the founding visionary of this “heresy” should be “tarred and feathered and run out of town”. Here is the backstory of Whole Health Patient Education, as told by a health professional who trained and graduated from the National Institute of Whole Health.

This is Part One of a three-part series exploring the real and viable need for demystified, patient centered health education, advocacy, and health coaching in today’s healthcare landscape.

The quintessential ‘town doctor’ and associated relational care, as we once knew it, is on the endangered species list, veering towards extinction. Gone are the days when colloquial reference to the family doctor was indicative of a healing relationship. Nowadays, ‘family medicine’ refers to a systems-based practice. At the start of 2021, nearly 70% of U.S. physicians were employed by hospital systems or other corporate entities (Eddy, 2021). Suffice it to say, most of modern-day care is provided by a system or business as opposed to a person.

Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that 43% of Americans are dissatisfied with the healthcare system (1,2). On May 23, 2022, the Surgeon General issued a warning on health worker burnout and resignation based on projected shortages of 3 million “essential low-wage health workers” in the next 5 years and nearly 140,000 physicians by 2033. (3) These data suggest that both the patrons and providers of healthcare are dissatisfied with the status quo. We are seeing lower life expectancy, higher preventable hospital admissions, unprecedented substance use disorders and drug overdoses, as well as high maternal mortality. While the U.S. healthcare system is well equipped to acutely react to a diagnosis, it is not well equipped to truly address prevention or wellness. However, proactive care—focused on prevention and well-being—that is provided earlier in the disease continuum is not routinely supported. To make matters worse, 7 in 10 of the leading causes of death result from chronic conditions of which preventive measures are possible. Can anything temper this madness? (5)

The philosophy of scientism suggests that we are simply physical creatures who have neurons and chemicals that create our inner world. Rooted in the scientific revolution, philosophers like Descartes proclaimed that by learning how the physical world worked, human beings could become masters and possessors of nature (6). Today, scientism still influences modern culture. As the late (and extraordinary research pioneer) Dr. Candace Pert observed, “most physicians treat the body with no regard to the mind or emotions. Conversely, psychologists treat the mind as disembodied, a phenomenon with little or no connection to the physical body. But, the body and mind are not separate and we cannot treat one without the other.” Dr. Pert made the seminal discovery of neuropeptides, molecules that arise from the brain in response to thoughts connecting its activity to the endocrine and immune systems (7) This discovery paved the way for Dr. Pert to introduce her concept of the?bodymind, which puts forth the idea that there is more to life than what is physically observed and that these things are related as well as connected.

The concept of?Whole Health, pioneered by the National Institute of Whole Health (NIWH),?challenges the dogma of scientism as it relates to healthcare by suggesting that health—and the things that influence it—extend beyond the physical. Whole Health is a whole person, holistic approach to care focused on empowering individuals, families, communities, and populations to improve their health (8) in multiple interconnected domains: 1) physical and structural, 2) nutritional and chemical, 3) mental and emotional, 4) environmental, 5) spiritual or worldview (9). These?5 Aspects of Whole Health? influence the quality and function of one’s?well-being?and health behaviors. The basis of?Whole Health Education?, with its partnered Whole Patient Advocacy,?is understanding the How and Why these 5 aspects impact one’s health, well-being, purpose, happiness and longevity. This demystified understanding empowers one to apply whole person approaches when choosing health behaviors or lifestyle choices that support sustainability despite the ups and downs of life (NIWH, 2022).

Pure Presence

Abraham Maslow posited that alongside survival and safety—but antecedent to self-esteem and self-actualization—a sense of belonging or relationships are a basic human need (Donadio, 2021). When facing chronic illness, one might perceive that their survival or safety is compromised. Therefore, receiving care from a system, thereby potentially removing the compassionate component of care, may compromise all basic human necessities essential to heal and return to health. Consequently, within this current system based model of care, self-esteem and self-actualization may not be possible in the context of?Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?theory. The National Institute of Whole Health (NIWH) asserts that “every person deserves respect, compassion, and justice. Those who treat another otherwise diminish themselves and all of us, each a unique and irreplaceable part of the human family. Nature is the reflection of the innate order, perfection, and interrelationships of creation. Life is not only physical and chemical, mental and emotional; it is also an expression of a profound spirituality, which we do not yet fully understand.” Given this, it becomes appropriate to approach health care from a whole person-oriented philosophy, which is educational, focused on disease prevention and, to the extent possible, fully engages the participation of individuals in their health recovery process.” This is an empowering philosophy that supports a sense of autonomy with respect to health and well-being.

Applying this philosophy is only possible in the context of a healing relationship. How is a healing relationship cultivated? Dr. Georgianna Donadio developed the model of?Behavioral Engagement with Pure Presence?,?which provides guiding principles. BEPP is expressed using a practice called?pure presence—a state of being fully and wholly present to another person (Donadio, 2012). Pure presence??is fully centered on connecting through relationship and employs multiple communication practices and physical sciences.

Look out for Part II – Viewing the Transformative Model of BEPP with Demystified Health Information

References

1. Sears, Barry, Ph.D.; 2021 NIWH Whole Health Education Curriculum streamed video; Inflammation and Disease. Sears, B (2005)?The Anti-inflammation Zone: Reversing the Silent Epidemic That’s Destroying Our Health. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

2? Shmerling, Robert H. 2021; Is our healthcare system broken? Harvard Stay Healthy blog; https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-our-healthcare-system-broken-202107132542.

Willett, W., M.D., Ph.D.; 2021 NIWH Whole Health Education Curriculum streamed video; Nutrition Research.

3. Yang, Jenny. 2021; Level of satisfaction with national health systems worldwide as of 2019, by country, Statista; https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109036/satisfaction-health-system-worldwide-by-country/.

4.? https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/05/23/new-surgeon-general-advisory-sounds-alarm-on-health-worker-burnout-and-resignation.html

5.?Shmerling, 2021; Centers for Disease Control. 2021; National health report highlights, dashboards highlighting American’s progress in combatting leading diseases; https://www.cdc.gov/healthreport/publications/compendium.pdf

6. Burnett, Thomas. 2012; What is scientism?, Dialogue on science, ethics, and religion; https://sciencereligiondialogue.org/resources/what-is-scientism/

(7) Ruff, Michael. 2019; The wisdom of the receptors: Neuropeptides, the emotions, and the bodymind, featured article; https://candacepert.com/articles/the-wisdom-of-the-receptors-neuropeptides-the-emotions-and-the-bodymind.

(8) National Center for Complementary and Integrative Healthcare. 2021; Whole person health: What you need to know, health information; https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/whole-person-health-what-you- need- to-know

(9) National Institute of Whole Health. 2022; 5 essential aspects of an individual’s life; https://www.wholehealtheducation.com/a-whole-person-health-approach-to-health-and-healing/.

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