The traditional “health care” system is really sick care – prescribing medicines to temporarily band aid the sickness/concern but not focusing on what is causing the problem and promoting health – that would be true health care. Our care system is broken and it is why many of us enter the field – to be change Agents and create a ripple effect for how things should be.

“In the healthcare system, they’re paid to treat the symptoms and not their conditions that make you sick in the first place. We often pay for volume not value – pay them for the number of services they provide not how healthy they make you. They don’t ask about where you live or work because if there is a problem there, they don’t know what know what to tell you. Over 1000 physicians surveyed –  80% know patients upstream problems are as important as medical problems, however, despite awareness, only 1 in 5 doctors said they had any sense of confidence to address those issues to improve health where it begins.

There are not nearly enough upstreamists – the person who is going to find out root causes for patients. They need not be Doctors but they can be other clinicians. What is important is that they share a process that identifies problems, analyzes root causes (living and working conditions also) and mobilize resources to create a solution that makes sense.

People (like this / like us) are wanting to be a part of something that works, improves your health and a health care system that actually listens to who you are. It is a better standard of care.”

In this great TED talk, Rishi Manchanda provides an example of a woman, who after going from Doctor to Doctor, ER to ER,  even getting tapped for spinal fluid, learned that the real cause of her headaches was her home environment. Please watch this, and learn, and share…and let’s together promote the work of the upstreamist practitioners that are getting to the root cause of patient/client concerns.