Alejandro Jadad MD DPhil FRCPC FCAHSUniversidad de Toronto and University Health Network
[email protected] [email protected]
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!