Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

consciousness-based education and governmentHistorically the United States has spent 1%–2% of its health sectorexpenditures on prevention. It is possible that more funding for healthpromotion and disease prevention research and interventions in theUnited States would yield significant improvements in health and wellbeingthat would simultaneously reduce national medical expenditures.This funding, however, must be well directed; not all prevention andpromotion programs are effective (Russell, 1986).Government and private organizations attempt to promote healthand prevent disease mainly by disseminating information on lifestyleimprovement. Prominent individuals help this endeavor by expoundingthe virtues of healthy behaviors; for example, on February 5, 1992 (DesMoines Register, 1992), President Bush urged citizens, “Let’s change thebehavior that costs society tens of billions.” Such exhortation strategiesappear to have had only limited impact: they have yielded minimalresults as measured by morbidity and mortality rates. Most peoplefind it difficult to change their behavior. For example, there have beennumerous smoking cessation campaigns in the U.S., and consequently,almost all adult smokers in the country know that their habit increasesthe likelihood of their dying prematurely from lung cancer, coronaryheart disease, or other diseases. Ninety percent of those who smokewould like to stop, but only 15% will attempt to quit each year. Ofthose who try to end their habit, only 10% will succeed. John G. Bruhn(1988) explains why behaviors are difficult to change:Compliance is difficult to achieve when health produces little or norewarding physical feedback, e.g., reduction of pain, and typically elicitsonly minimal or short-term acknowledgement and support by family,friends and employer. . . . People are reluctant to alter patterns that representpowerful, predictable, and immediate sources of gratification whichare deeply ingrained in social and cultural contexts. One possible impedimentmay be the lack of a comprehensive national health policy and themixed messages the public receives about the health risks of certain substances.These inconsistencies may reinforce the ambivalence and resistanceto change among many people. Furthermore, there is an apparentlack of real commitment to the concept of healthier living. The governmentcontinues tobacco subsidies, while the Surgeon General takes astrong stand on the health risks of smoking. Similarly, certain foods andalcohol are promoted by the mass media, while the health sector warnsabout their abuse. Perhaps one of the greatest barriers to change may be366