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What comprises good health and how to maintain it can sometimes add up to a fuzzy picture for many of us. A growing number of studies point to the ineffectiveness and inappropriate use of drugs, while over-diagnosis and over-treatment by physicians continue to be a concern.
Then there’s the ongoing dialogue about the lifestyle choices we make – the impact of food choices and the value of exercise. But even in these areas, health journals issue a word of caution – individual results are dependent upon personal characteristics and don’t necessarily correspond to research findings.
As individuals create health habits that help them become more accountable for their own health decisions, mandated health insurance policies should provide benefits to cover the services that individuals use to support their health. Many newer studies are indicating that more holistic views and practices enhance the health of those who choose them. Among these holistic views are alternative therapies, which include meditation and prayer. According to author Cara Santa Maria, “An overwhelming 83 percent of Americans say that God answers prayers…”
Yet, even as more of the public see spirituality and prayer as effective in helping individuals maintain their health, researchers remind us that the beneficial effect of prayer/spirituality isn’t confined to churchgoers. Many believe that health care providers should take advantage of this correlation between health and spirituality by tailoring treatments and rehabilitation programs to accommodate the spiritual beliefs of the people being treated.
With more holistic treatments offered by health care providers, more patients likely will take advantage of these treatments – an idea echoed by Dr. Michael J. Barry, MD, who believes patients are ready to hear the message of shared decision making, less treatment, and the inclusion of spirituality.
Although adding spiritual care services like meditation and prayer to an insurer’s list of covered benefits will not, in and of itself, turn our current disease care system into a bona fide health care system, it is a step in the right direction – a step that much of the public desires, that could save money, and that could have a very real impact on the health of our state and our nation.
If nothing else, it could give focus to a pretty fuzzy picture of how to obtain health through the nation’s new and untried health care system, which at present is still deciding what treatment options to offer.
Article first published in Blogcritics
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Great article, Don. I agree that it’s a very important step in the right direction for our health care to include spiritual care services to its coverage. More and more people are turning away from Big Pharma and toward meditation, yoga, prayer, and healthy life choices. If we want our healthcare plans to truly meet our needs, they need to show they are willing to do so and include spiritual care coverage.
Thanks, Don, for a thoughtful and helpful article.
Great ideas, well presented. How can we share them with the wider audience?
Thank you, Don.
The clear points made by Michael J. Barry, MD should help the insurance field to understand that one size doesn’t fit all.
I was impressed with Dr. Barry’s compassion, wisdom, and humility, when he spoke of seeing “the health care experience through the patients’ eyes” and being more responsive to their needs. He also mentioned including spirituality, and giving less medical treatment. And in a research project, the first of eight characteristics that were most important to good care was having “respect for the patient’s values.”
Surely the insurance companies can recognize that the new ways of looking at health care are what a lot of people want and that many doctors are recommending them. Making the necessary accommodations will help bring about a smooth transition.
A thoughtful blog, as we move forward to find the best solutions for the nation’s health care.
Thank you.
This certainly brings insight into the confusion surrounding health care. Jesus seems to be the only one whose counsel has remained unchanged on health care.
Thanks Don for this blog and in conjunction with what you wrote and from some of the comments above I like the statement made by the discoverer of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, where she writes, “Sickness has been combated for centuries by doctors using material remedies; but the question arises, Is there less sickness because of these practitioners?” Maybe this is the question we need to be asking in our search for alternative ways and means to improve the health of mankind.
I appreciate this blog post for its emphasis on the great potential value of increasing patient accountability in health care decision making.
Because I have experienced this power, habitually.
As a patient who has chosen Christian Science treatment, I have been thoroughly cured of a number of ailments—cold and flu-like symptoms, food poisoning, persistent warts, injuries, sunburns, a diagnosed case of anemia.
During these experiences I have realized great benefits from
a) being calm and decisive over my choice of treatment, and
b) participating vigorously in my own healing by seeking fresh views of God while receiving treatment from a Christian Science practitioner, and welcoming the needed shift in my conscious thoughts and actions, which is important in any cure.
I find Dr. Barry’s article especially evocative in giving intelligent direction for improved success in the practice of medicine
Thanks for this!