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Just How Do We Define a “Culture of Health”?

By: Stanley Chin

What determines the health of nations? The answer is not clear: individual behaviors may seem dominant but, on closer inspection, yield to a complex interplay of genetics; economic constraints; cultural norms; social interactions; one’s prenatal environment; and many other interrelated, sometimes time-delayed, physically distant factors. Given this conundrum, a useful approach is an ecological perspective. Consider individuals nested within many overlapping, sometimes competing, sometimes supporting systems. Taken together, these systems form a culture of health in which each of us is embedded. Our new research project at Altarum Institute on ...

Should Farming Be the Model for Health Care’s Future?

By: Stanley Chin, Paul Hughes-Cromwick

Is health care really like farming? In an article in The New Yorker (“Testing, Testing: The health-care bill has no master plan for curbing costs. Is that a bad thing?” December 14, 2009) by Dr. Atul Gawande made the case that, for all their apparent differences, there may be key similarities. Dr. Gawande is a brilliant writer and thinker who has strongly influenced the health care debate by highlighting regional variation in cost and quality, the value of simple check-lists in hospitals (especially in Intensive Care Units), ...

Personal Health Records: Data you don’t want and can’t use (for now)

By: Stanley Chin

Even before recent product launches from technology giants Google and Microsoft, personal health records (PHRs) looked like they were well on their way towards becoming a breakout health information technology solution. In addition to Google and Microsoft, PHR vendors include health plans, hospitals and academic medical centers, physician practice groups, professional organizations, employers, and independent businesses. PHRs seem to be near a breakthrough in acceptance and use. Yet behind the scenes, the widespread adoption of PHRs remains at something of an impasse. Structural and legal issues Part of ...