The Healthcare Division
Dr. Gallagher has a new vision for modern healthcare: complete interaction between the patient and all the patient’s healthcare providers. This new vision should lead to a healthcare system focused on overall wellness for the patient, rather than the current program focused on the alleviation of symptoms. She believes that healthcare professionals should communicate with each other to develop a plan to promote overall healing of the patient. This idea of interaction among healthcare professionals is an idea that some claim already exists, but in reality most doctors feel they are too busy to engage in real dialogue with other healthcare providers regarding one particular patient.
Medical doctors do not often interact with the patient’s dentist, psychologist, or pharmacist, and this lack of interaction allows for focus on the symptoms of sickness and opens the door for potential drug interactions or other health crises. Each patient is important, the most important thing in their life and each and every patient should be treated as such. Patients do not want to make multiple trips to multiple doctors and Dr. Gallagher believes that if the health professionals treating the patient would take the extra time to speak with the other professionals treating the patient, then all the providers would have less occurrences of the same patient with the same health problems and the overall health of the patients in their care would improve.
How can this interaction be achieved?
Currently, medical professionals have been educated and instructed to work with a certain disease, a certain part of the body or specific symptoms that are presenting in the patient. In this process, there is no communication between the professionals and this lack of interaction means there is no overall focus on healing the patient. Integrative and holistic educators are working to increase patient responsibility for their own healthcare and are encouraging this very important interaction to lead to healing. A huge shift in training of healthcare professionals is necessary to achieve this change in viewpoint of healthcare professionals, since the current, ineffectual system has been in place since the early 1900’s.
What are the challenges of this change in viewpoint?
Even if a physician wishes to believe a different theory of disease or treatment and the physician is a member of national and state society along with licensing boards, the physician cannot voice this alternate idea or theory. The fact is, a new theory will be challenged and the parties that would benefit most from the antiquated system are the parties voicing objection to the new change. Therefore, the ensuing uproar against a change will take no hostages in its attempts to knock down the new theory being presented. This ‘take no prisoners’ attitude of the establishment applies to everyone associated with the potential change.
What is the theory of past healthcare that can begin to change?
A patient, in some instances, is a person who is in need of help, in need of some one to take care of them, of using someone with greater knowledge and expertise and in even bigger circumstances, a person who is a life saver, to help them. The personal responsibility of the individual for their health, the care they receive and the support they need, are the most fundamental and important things to be changed. In many visions of healthcare, this will take a changing of the guard with shifting responsibilities.
How can this change be brought about?
By an increased awareness that healthcare is not finite and not perfect as documented in books. An increased awareness will evolve consistently with technology, increased knowledge and increased communication between all levels of patient care.
Who will institute the biggest change in healthcare?
The belief that is being challenged maintains a collection of politicians and medical institutions as the directors of the patient’s healthcare. Is there a better concept of healthcare? Yes. We are the directors of our life and health, so perhaps it would be time to start learning what we can do for ourselves, rather than be told what we deserve, what we are allowed to have and what condition we should be in.
Why is this so important?
Each individual has been put into the classification of health according to the physical disease and symptoms they present with. Treatments are distributed based on these parameters. So, if there are thousands of symptoms and diseases, are their only thousands of people in the world? No, so it is time for the individual to stand up and be counted. One treatment that works for others may or may not work for you. It is great for some to be saved by drugs or surgical procedures, but these same drugs or procedures may be devastating to others. How the patient determines the best course of therapy is trial and error, with a close attention paid to medical history. A treatment will be used until it harms a certain percentage of the population, and only then will an evaluation of its efficacy determine its future. So, why are we allowing ourselves to be experiments?
The Rose Project, LLC., is a new concept put forth by Dr. Jeanette Gallagher, a project developed to increase education, responsibility and personal nurturing to increase the health of the individual from one minute to the next. It is a work in progress. Dr. Gallagher is also writing a book describing the details of the project, with a tentative release date of 2008. In the meantime, Dr. Gallagher will utilize a blog to communicate the barriers and challenges patients are currently experiencing in accessing education and support to increase their health. Check all Dr. Gallagher’s other websites for further information not given here.
Copyright © 2007 - 2010 The Rose Project, LLC., Mind & Body. The Rose Project, LLC. and Mind & Body words and text herein, photos, drawings, articles, communications, media reports, registered trademarks, service marks, wordmarks and logos, including “The Rose Project” LLC or "Mind, Body & Spirit" may not be used or reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.