Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

Health Care Reform 309
HEALTH MORE THAN MEDICAL CARE
In 1945 the renowned medical historian Henry E. Sigerist commented, “ Health is promoted
by providing a decent standard of living, good labor conditions, education,
physical culture, and means of rest and relaxation ” (1946, p. 127). Building on this
idea, Milton Terris (1986) noted:
Many areas of health promotion, such as nutrition, physical exercise, housing,
employment, income, and education, have major impacts also on disease prevention.
The logic of our discipline makes it necessary to support a healthful standard
of living through full employment and adequate family income; improved working
conditions; decent housing, including the elimination of urban and rural slums and
the grim spectacle of thousands of homeless Americans; effective protection from
environmental discomforts such as excessive heat and cold, smog, noise and noxious
odors; good nutrition that will foster optimal physical and mental development;
increased financial support to public education and elimination of financial
barriers to higher education; improved opportunities for rest, recreation, and cultural
development; greater participation in community activities and decision - making;
an end to discrimination against minority groups based on race, gender, age, social
class, religious belief, national background or sexual preference; and freedom from
the pervasive fear of violence, war, and nuclear annihilation. A healthful standard
of living is one of the three basic components of a national health program, along
with greatly expanded preventive services and a comprehensive medical care system.
Failure to understand this will narrow our horizons, limit our success in improving
the health status of the population, and impede our ability to forge meaningful
alliances with the citizen groups whose understanding and support are essential to
our efforts. (pp. 150 – 151)
HEALTH AND MEDICAL CARE — A NEW PARADIGM
At present medical care predominates the “ health care ” budget to such an extent that
“ health care ” has become a surrogate for medical care. Medical care is dominated by
powerful economic interests such as insurers, provider groups, the pharmaceutical
industry, and the medical supply/equipment industry. They are more than content to
capture the term health care for what is really medical care. As Terris (1986) mentions,
medical care is a component of, but not synonymous with either health or health
care. A new paradigm would include a distinction between health and medical care
both organizationally and functionally.
A rational paradigm could include a Department of Health with a focus as broadly
outlined in earlier paragraphs and a Department of Medical Services that would include
programs consistent with what it is — keeping sick people alive, making them well, or
minimizing their disability. Both would be funded by private (business, industry, consumers,
and patients) and public sources. Certainly there is some relationship between