Learn
what you need to do to stay well, and motivate yourself to do it.
I know that lifestyle changes are not easy, but we have much more control
over our health than most people believe. Genetics is only 20 percent,
the environment is another 20 percent and quality of care is 15 percent
of what makes us healthy or sick. The rest -- 45 percent -- is lifestyle.
Promote "well
care" in addition to sick care. Prevention gets less than
1 percent of the $1.3 trillion spent yearly on health care in the U.S.,
even though it could potentially lower costs, improve quality of care
and enhance outcomes. The American health-care community certainly has
the capacity to take care of sick people, but we need to work on keeping
people well.
Encourage
a more holistic approach. We know that the integration of emotional,
physical and spiritual approaches to health care leads to better outcomes.
We don't understand how it works, but we can document that it does.
Make pharmaceuticals
affordable for all Americans. People have to be able to get
their medicines. Without them we will not be able to decrease the complications
of hypertension -- renal disease, heart disease, stroke -- that lead to
bad outcomes.
Offer more
accessible health care. Millions of Americans are uninsured,
and millions of those with insurance can't get care because of system
barriers: language, distance from providers or limited hours. If their
only choice is a hospital emergency room, that drives up health costs.
Expect
better health outcomes. America is 18th in the world in life
expectancy for women, 24th for men and 26th in infant mortality. The Institute
of Medicine says 98,000 people die each year in our hospitals, due to
errors. There is a lot of waste in our system, a lot of duplication of
effort and useless paperwork. How we run the systems, and their quality
and safety, is very important to the health of this nation.
Dr. Gaston, a former U.S. assistant surgeon general,
recently retired from federal service as director of the Bureau of Primary
Health Care, Department of Health and Human Services. Co-author of "Prime
Time: The Complete Guide to Health and Wellness for the Midlife African
American Woman" (Ballantine, 2001), the UC alumna is currently working
on a second book and fulfilling speaking engagements.
LINKS:
Go to UC's 2001 Women in Discovery: the Legacy of Marie Curie site for a biography of Gaston. She was keynote speaker for the WID celebration in late 2001.
Listen to audio files of a "business of government" radio interview with Dr. Gaston.
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