Part 2: 'Get Off Your Ass!'
So in Part 1 we established that there is a health care system, that it costs money to run, and that its finances and service standards are currently locked into a nosedive, due to short-sighted decisions made by the people in charge. It is clear that the major stakeholders in current funding projections and procedures have important interests competing for attention with patient outcomes. Therefore, it's patients who must take a role in steering the system.
It seems impossibly hard- we all have other things to do rather than maintain and administer the health system, and we certainly are not on our own capable of actually performing medical treatments, nor paying for them (leaving aside the obvious fact that doctors and financiers alike are themselves patients, which we will return to very shortly). What many of us are able to control, however, is our own approach to our health, and our priorities for the future of the system that supports us.
The first priority for me is universal access. We all need to know that every resident of this country has access to the same standard of care. It is unconscionable that Canadians in already marginalized communities die from preventable diseases and lack of access to basic medical care. This investment will pay major economic and social dividends, especially among First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
The second is integrity of information. We need to know that our communities are making choices based on evidence and peer-reviewed practices, rather than hogwash or rhetoric. If we're to be free to choose our health outcomes, we must ensure the integrity of the information presented to the public. There are too many taboos and too many salesman, and not enough people to promote the facts about medications, interventions and treatments.
Information is not limited to basic truths like 'quit smoking', 'eat more greens!', and 'get off your ass!'. It is related to knowing what forms to fill out, who to address for different questions, and who has responsibility for what part of treatment. It's about knowing whether something is actually a health problem, rather than an ache or pain, and who should be taking charge of your care.
The third, and in my view the most important, is personal responsibility. Now, for this to be a fair and meaningful measure of health outcomes, everyone needs to be playing on a level field. Claiming that disenfranchised and marginalized communities, or vulnerable viewing audiences and web surfers, are failing themselves in the system as it stands is flatly ridiculous.
However, once we have access to universal care, and the right information, there is no excuse not to lower personal risks through diet, exercise, and healthy lifestyles, and such behaviour will have more obvious benefits. The definition of a sustainable system is one that manages costs even while growing, and if we take better care of ourselves we'll need less taking care of in the future.
In any case, the first two priorities practically require the intervention of government or financiers, but personal responsibility will certainly help the process along. Patients, who I argue should take charge of their health care system, are widely represented in both Government and private companies, and by exercising their personal responsibility for the outcomes of fellow patients, they will advance these aims significantly.
This happens at the ballot box, as it happens in Underwriting and Maintenance and Claims. The people directly involved in the operation of existing systems need to take charge of patient outcomes, and do everything in their power to care for others. It's as simple as that. Double-check the fractions, and make sure it adds up to something positive.
So Part 2. The point is taking shape. Patients must take responsibility for furthering their interests, and everyone involved in the running of the system is a patient themselves. Those who truly bear the greatest responsibility, the Ministers and Executives and Chairs, already know what action they could take- now is the time to take it. Encourage them ; make kind choices yourself, every chance that you get.
Part 3 will talk about risk.
