Alex Jadad on a New Concept for Health

Alejandro Jadad MD DPhil FRCPC FCAHSUniversidad de Toronto and University Health Network

ajadad@ehealthinnovation.org ajadad@gmail.com

Twitter, Skype and Facebook: ajadad; LinkedIn: alexjadadMóvil: +1 416 358 5631

Health:A new concept and many new opportunities

What is ‘health’?

April 7, 1948

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not just the absence of disease or infirmity

Antibiotics changed the game…

We keep putting more years into

our lives…

We must now put more life into

our years…

Condemned to be unhealthy?

Lost of unnecessary suffering!

Journal of Palliative Care 21(2):80-7, 2005

Most of us will have a horrible death

Last Portrait of Mother. Daphne Todd

‘Diagnose and cure’ models are limited

What should ‘health’ mean now?

A radical reconceptualization

“Health is the capacity of an individual or community to adapt and self manage in the face of physical, mental and

social challenges”

With multiple diseases and healthy!

Proportion of people with chronic diseases who consider their health to be

good, very good or excellent(Andalusian Health Survey, 2007)

0 1 2 3 4 >=5 >=1 >=2 >=3

Number of chronic diseases

Perc

enta

ge

Institutionswithout walls

Community care

Groupsupport

Peer-to-peer support

Self-help

A health-focused approach to social media

Our shared responsibility: To identify unmet needs that create unnecessary suffering, and mobilize resources to

address them, across traditional boundaries

How could we move from the fringe to the core of the health system?

Time to focus on a wellness system…

What makes you the happiest?

What is your verb?

How could you spend as much time as possible doing it, with no regrets?

How could you ensure that anyone else could do the same?

Let’s transform life into a long and happy journey, with no regrets, together!