Given I have worked in education and change management for
over 40 years, mostly in healthcare, it will not surprise you that I believe that at the heart of all
sustainable change is education.
My other passion is animal welfare. When contemplating
recently how to advance the lot of non human animals – was it to be wildlife
rescue, or neglected domestic animal rehabilitation – it soon became clear to me
that, as necessary as these interventions are, the way to ensure that future
generations develop attitudes and values that respect all inhabitants of this
planet is through education. These newly acquired attitudes and values will
then be passed down the generations, enhanced on their journey.
My dog, 'Mr Johnny Angel', off on a journey of his own.
And so it is with healthcare.
Alfred Marshall was a turn of the century social scientist
who is probably better known for his economic theories. Among other things
Marshall wrote about ‘price elasticity of demand’ which describes how price
increases lead to a fall in demand.
The extent to which demand is driven down varies depending
on a number of factors but chief among these is the essential nature of the
good or service in question. In healthcare demand is highly inelastic with a 1%
increase in price leading to just a 0.2% drop in demand. One can reasonably
speculate that this drop would be in elective healthcare. You are not going to
cancel your life saving surgery just because it suddenly got more expensive
(but you may decide not to have those wrinkles removed).
You and I have an almost insatiable demand for health care
services. The cost of healthcare is high yet we continue to use it. In fact the
demand for healthcare services vastly outstrips the supply – or at least the
timely supply. So, whatever it costs, one way or another we will likely continue
to use it. In fact, as medical science daily finds new ways to cure or
alleviate illness the take up of health services increases.
World healthcare costs increase and our demand increases
right along with it.
Here is where education comes in. If we as a literate
population took the time to understand more about what happens to us as we age
or sustain minor injuries we can make more informed decisions about the nature
and level of care we need to alleviate health problems and global health cost
would come down. But we need to be careful. I am not talking here about self diagnosis
websites – although there are some that are useful – but rather a professional
structured approach to educating populations about the who, where and when of
healthcare interventions.
In time, animals will occupy a better place amongst us
through our enhanced understanding of who they are. It is not too much to
expect that education can also move global health standards forward.
