The Health Care Revolution by Gregg Hake
Posted on | March 11, 2010 | No Comments
I came across an interesting article in the Natural Products Insider written by Steve French of the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI). Mr. French’s article, “Revolutionizing Health Care,” analyzes several of the primary forces catalyzing a shift from its current focus on “sick care” to “proactive health care.”1
The major forces at work, according to Mr. French, are the following:
1. Emerging Self-Responsibility – Mr. French notes: “the majority of consumers agree that taking responsibility for one’s health is the best way to stay healthy, and they show strong desire and self-motivation toward that end.”
2. Food as Medicine – According to Mr. French, “Food as the new “medicine” is a strong sign of consumers’ growing need to take more responsibility for their health and a contrary indication of a widely held belief within the industry that functional foods are reaching a plateau as a future market opportunity; in fact, functionality is poised to be a key driver across many existing and emerging markets.”
3. Less is More – The trends toward simplification and reduction, driven by the current economic uncertainty, are powerful agents helping to shape consumers’ approach to health care. Mr. French states: “Overall, consumers are moving away from consumptive and excessive behaviors, because simplification and practicality are becoming the new sophistication and the “right thing to do.”
4. Alternate Means – Consumers appear to be taking greater advantage of alternative modalities and supplementation to improve their health and consequently keep health care costs down.
5. Proactive Health – Greater emphasis on the “ounce of prevention” is likewise fueling the shift toward more proactive health care. Mr. French adds: “Health care is taking on new dimensions, as consumers are beginning to take tangible, measured steps in their everyday lives as a way to regain control over a lifestyle which appears to have veered off track. Consumers are recalibrating what is important in order to reestablish balanced and healthy lifestyle goals. Even more so in today’s economy, concern is evident as consumers are choosing to eat healthier, take supplements and use homeopathic remedies as alternatives to costly doctor visits and high-priced pharmaceuticals.”
While President Obama said recently that “Everything there is to say about health care has been said and just about everyone has said it,” it seems to me that insufficient attention has been given to the relatively inexpensive, highly effective and sustainable system of medicine that is known as “preventive” or “integrative” health care. The underlying trends and statistics that paint a clear picture of a new, more informed health care consumer and there is no better time than the present to consider what shifts might be required at the level of public policy to accommodate this promising development.
- Steve French, Revolutionizing Health Care, (Natural Products Insider, 2010) pp.16,17 [↩]
Comments
Leave a Reply