A Worsening Global Crisis
The world has been facing a health care crisis of immense proportions for some time now. This worsening global crisis has many aspects to it, one of these being the expanding epidemic of chronic diseases, including the top five killer diseases viz. heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and cancer. Another aspect is the exorbitant cost of healthcare. In fact chronic diseases place a massive economic burden on companies, corporations, communities and countries. They account for most of the healthcare costs in developed countries and more and more of these costs in developing countries. And they impact even more negatively on productivity through absenteeism and underperformance at work (presenteeism). Across the globe the annual cost of sub-optimal productivity is several trillion dollars.
Why Is There A Global Healthcare Crisis?
The complete answer to this question is multi-faceted and complex. However the simple version is this: The global healthcare crisis is about human beings and anything and everything about human beings - including their health and wellness -fundamentally boils down to the human mind. And specifically the subconscious mind because it is the subconscious mind which controls more than 95 percent of our lives. So it is largely subconsciously-encoded beliefs, feelings and programs which drive people to do things which are detrimental to their health and wellness. It is these subconsciously-driven destructive beliefs, feelings, behaviours and habits such as not eating nutritious foods, doing nothing about on-going stress and having bad lifestyle habits such as smoking or not exercising for example, that are ultimately responsible for the crisis.
But what about illness and disease due to genetic factors? Is it not true that there is nothing people can do about conditions they have inherited? Nope. This is false. In fact this is one of the many fallacies which keep people sick and perpetuate the healthcare crisis. The truth is that only a small percentage of illnesses and diseases are primarily due to genetic factors (less than 5 percent). Most diseases are caused by factors such as chronic stress, poor nutrition and bad lifestyles, all of which are completely preventable! And even if a person has inherited genes that increase his or her risk of illness and disease this risk can be minimized or eliminated by getting rid of persistent stress and having the right diet and a good lifestyle!
Is Behavioral Modification in the Direction of Optimal Health and Wellness Possible?
There is of course a commonly-held belief that prevention of illness and disease is difficult, with some even believing that it is impossible. In fact according to some reports there are no magical solutions for changing behaviours. And it is expected that none will be found. Certainly most people find that attempting to modify their behaviour is difficult since changing human behaviour is an inherently complicated and challenging process. Although many give up shortly after trying others persist for a while longer until they see some results or also ‘throw in the towel’ when they don’t. However a small number of people (the exception to the rule admittedly) change their behaviour literally ‘overnight’ and see significant improvements in their health status within a period of a few short weeks - and all of this without the assistance of any external tools. However, thanks to advancements in neuroscience research, cutting edge tools and technologies which enable rapid rewiring of the brain and reprogramming of the subconscious mind are now available to all. These brain and mind rewiring and reprogramming aids rapidly transform thoughts, beliefs, perceptions attitudes, habits and behaviours. So the belief that behaviour modification in the direction of optimal health and wellness (or other aspects of life too for that matter) is not possible is of course a false belief. In fact not only is prevention of illness and disease possible, but so is enhancement of health and wellness - and performance too of course, as has been the experience of some USA companies (see below) – although it is not certain whether their programs included the tools and technologies mentioned.
Can Businesses Benefit From Keeping Their Workforce Healthy and Well?
Studies have shown that USA companies which focus on assisting their workforce in modifying those behaviors which contribute to chronic disease benefit in two major ways:
1. They enjoy substantial annual healthcare-related cost-savings per employee
2. They experience significant improvements in performance and productivity
In fact applications are available which predict the impact that chronic diseases, their risk factors and employee health and wellness programs will have on cost-savings with respect to healthcare and productivity and performance.
What Does Success Require?
To date the results expected of many companies with respect to their wellness programs has been disappointing, seemingly due the fact that these programs have not been comprehensive and systematic. Rather they have been unsystematic and limited, not only concentrating on one or other aspect of chronic disease but also excluding deep subconscious mind reprogramming tools and technologies. Since more than 95% of the lives of human beings, especially with respect to their beliefs, perceptions, habits and behaviours are controlled by their subconscious, any program intent on achieving behavioural change must include these tools and technologies. Addressing problems at a superficial conscious level and in a narrow and atomistic way is bound to yield disappointing results. It is imperative that any employee wellness program which seeks to optimize the health and wellness of its participants and their and their company’s productivity and performance, address all aspects or dimensions of health and wellness and utilize reprogramming tools and technologies to achieve its goals. Unfortunately few companies have a comprehensive and systematic approach to employee health and wellness.
The success of any employee health and wellness program is dependent on the commitment of its participants, including their utilization of the various tools and technologies and required actions at work and out of it. Of course it also has to be a part of the organization’s strategic planning. The organization has to be intensely involved in the program rather than viewing it as some independent process involving its workforce. For any employee health and wellness program to be successful it needs to be embedded in the culture of the organization.
Dr. Faiez Kirsten is the founder and director of the Health, Wellness and Performance Institute which is a membership-based education and development entity whose mission is to empower individuals and organizations with the knowledge and skills to prevent, reverse and eliminate illness and disease and achieve optimal health, wellness and performance. Achievement of these goals is a significant part of realizing the full potential of any individual or organization. The mission of the institute is achieved via innovative programs which are delivered both on-line and off-line.