Ideas for Change

As Americans, we love our country, want the best for our families, a voice in deciding our future, and for elected officials to honor our needs and interests.

After several stressful years, this is a bright moment when new Ideas could create the energy needed for important changes in our healthcare system.

Following is the first in a series of Ideas gathered from a variety of sources. I’m leading off with my own after decades of study and experience. I hope these might encourage you to begin thinking about what Ideas for change you might want to contribute!

• Create a National Health and Wellbeing Corps (like AmeriCorps) to hire community workers to support better health outcomes in poor, inner-city, and rural communities.
  • Strategies for better health, economic opportunities, access to care, and other aspects of everyday life would be included in the program.
  • The Corps’ program would include creating new careers, paid employment, community-based training, and participation in design, implementation, and tracking of outcomes combined with citizen feedback.

• Find working healthcare models from here at home and around the world in order to integrate effective programs into a new American health plan that is available to everyone and not limited to our current insurance-based models.

• Upgrade the profession of caregiving including: fair wages, training, Continuing Education (CE) credits, and an advisory of workers who report directly to a federal oversight committee.

• Include naturopaths, osteopaths, and other healing professionals in the national healthcare system. For too long, the domination of insurance companies and the AMA have limited as a covered benefit other well-trained and beneficial health and medical modalities.

• End prescription drug advertising on television and limit advertising in print and media.
  • Replace these with health and information campaigns to get children and adults to spend active time outdoors, as well as healthy food choice information and why these have long-term importance.

• Develop specialized health programs for the poor, the elderly, veterans, the disabled, and children and families to meet the social and economic needs of the community/region.
  • Make preventive medical and health programs for these populations a core element, not just an add-on like Silver Sneakers for seniors and wellness programs that barely scratch the surface of needs.

These are some of my ideas. In the coming months I’ll have more to add.

Would you like to add an idea? Leave it in the comments section and I’ll add them to the next Ideas for Change post.

Photo credits: Ideas – juan-marin, Post-it Note – absolutvision, Turn Ideas into Reality – mika- baumeister