Are you in hospital at the moment, or do you have a loved one currently in hospital?

The purpose of hospitals is to treat disease and restore health. Whilst we do well in many respects- cutting out cancers, killing infections, saving lives, unfortunately the scope of treatment does not extend far enough.

Additionally, many of our treatments can have a host of adverse effects. Recently one of my family members had a total knee replacement. The surgery went swimmingly well and the surgeon was delighted with the result but the side that he didn’t see was the nausea from the anaesthetic, the constipation from the pain killers, and sleep deprivation from being in a new place. Different food and diets, shared rooms and toilets, lack of fresh air and sunshine, loss of control, can all thrown one’s system completely out of kilter.

All of a sudden, patients begin to suffer from low mood, depression, anxiety and other emotions that can actually hinder the entire recovery process. To some extent it is entirely normal and natural to experience these emotions, but as a healthcare system, we need to do more to make sure that the entire individual is being looked after. We should not have to wait for patients to show signs of “emotional decompensation” before requesting for a psychologist or counsellor or family to inject another level of support.

An enlightened health care system will use technology to teach patients mindfulness, meditation and visualisation, so that whilst they are lying in bed, they can utilise the power of the mind. Every patient will have a personal “coach” that gives them goals to focus on during their recovery process. There is only so much our amazing nurses can do. They are stretched to the maximum already. Nutrition needs to be considered in a broader context that just protein supplementation. There is a whole science of nutritional medicine that has been studied and validated, that can be used in a complementary fashion with conventional medicine. Green spaces, fresh air and sunlight need to be built into the infrastructure of every hospital.

I hope one day our health systems will evolve along these lines. It will be for the benefit of patients, their families and the community at large.

In Health and Wellness