"How Can Self-Care Practices Reduce Hospital Wait Times and Doctor Visits?"

Here in Canada....

-Our wait times in hospitals have only increased over the years.

-Many people don't have a family doctor.

-Even those who do, it sometimes takes a while to be able to get into your doctor for an appointment.

-Hospitals are understaffed and overworked.

-Doctors are overworked and burned out.

I 100% don't want to dive into the health care debate or how to "fix our system" here because, like human health, it's COMPLEX and there's no single answer. And I DEFINITELY don't have it!! I will say, I personally feel stuck in the grey area of it because I've had doctor clients in the past, have a friend who's a family doctor and love our family doctor and how they practice. So I understand both sides of the coin without question. Doctor's are people, with lives, just like the rest of us - and they can burn out like us, and many ARE.

Recently I brought my Dad to emerg so that he can get another opinion and get some more specific answers (which he received - Yay!!). When I got home after dropping him off he sent a text saying "It's full in here". This was a Sunday night after 8:30pm at our local hospital. It sparked a post idea and arguement I want to make for taking control of your own health. Please recognize I'm speaking in general terms here. I'm not picking on anyone in particular, but what I am eluding to in this post is that instead of continuing to complain about the health care system, WE NEED TO DO OUR PART to unload some of the burden. The "bonus" is - THAT means we ALSO will feel and be healthier overall as individuals.

What are WE doing, as Individuals to REDUCE the Load on Canada's Health Care System?

99.9% of humans (I assume) don't like spending ANY time in a hospital or doctor's office, let alone 8hrs or more waiting. Not to mention, while waiting, you're most likely uncomfortable, in pain, frustrated, confused etc otherwise you wouldn't be there, right?

But what are WE doing, for OURSELVES to help this national issue?? I think we all can agree just from experience (or hearing from others) what it's like in the present time when you need to see a doctor/go to the hospital- and it's NOT fun is it??

One example is this infographic showing how since 2019 (pre-pandemic) we've increased health-care wait times by almost 2-months on average in Canada to see the type of health care professional we need, averaging just over 27-weeks. Yikes!

Another example was shared in a MacLean's article early this year, stating that this past December (2023) in Ontario, patients waited in ERs for an average of nearly 22hrs before getting admitted to hospital. This is almost 3x longer than the provincial target of 8hrs. (Take that in for a second - The health care system TARGETS 8hrs as the GOAL currently! That's how overloaded they are!!) That's an entire work day to put it into perspective. I'm sorry but I would much rather support my family and be working, than sitting in a waiting room with other sick, injured and uncomfortable people for an entire work day worth of time.

The Canadian Medical Association anticipated health care costs in our country to hit $344 Billion in 2023 ($8,740 per Canadian). BILLION with a 'B' people!! We have just over 40 million people in Canada as of 2023 to put that into perspective.

We can complain, whine and shake our fist at "the system" all we want; The current reality is the medical system is OVERLOADED, OVERWORKED, UNDERSTAFFED and TAPPED TO THE LIMIT.

And that is on ALL OF US (health care providers AND patients).

I say this is on ALL of us for two reasons:

1. I don't feel doctors put enough emphasis on healthy lifestyle habits. I don't feel they refer to front line professionals such as Health & Wellness Coaches, Nutritionists, Physiotherapists etc enough (again - not all, I'm generalizing overall, because our family doctor(s) are great with that). In doctors' defense, they spend very little time in med school learning about lifestyle, how to best help people create these habits etc... All the more reason to begin to change the mentality and send patients to the front line workers who CAN help create healthy change.
   

2. We, the patients, don't take our own health into our own hands. We complain of pain, illness etc yet still choose habits that make us feel that way. Instead of working to create healthy practices ourselves, we complain to the doctor and wait for the magic pill, surgery etc.

Reducing Wait Times and Trips to the Doctor STARTS WITH OURSELVES!!

According to Participaction, only 49% of Canadian adults are meeting the national physical activity guidelines of 150min of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week (less than 30min per day!). In kids and youth (5-17yrs old) it's WORSE, with only 29% meeting the national physical activity guildelines of 60min per day of moderate-to-vigorous activity.

And that's just MOVEMENT! Add to that...

-Most people are NOT eating a healthy, balanced diet.

-Most people are NOT managing stress in any way.

-Most people are NOT sleeping well OR enough.

-Most people are NOT slowing down, but rather piling so much into their schedules they are burning out.

-Most people are NOT balancing work and play - HELL there is no play for many people!!!

-Most people are NOT balancing screen time and non-screen time on a daily basis

I truly believe we CANNOT complain (and need to STOP complaining) when on the whole, we are a major cause of the increased wait times and doctor burnout.

What can we do?

We need to advocate more CONTROL within our own lifestyle choices. Our sedentary, screen/device ridden, stressed out lifestyle is making us sicker, weaker and more in need of seeing a doctor/health care provider. THAT is overloading the system!! Currently, too many of us are putting the burden and "control" into our doctors/health care systems hands, mentally pointing the finger at them saying "you make me healthy!" and then doing little to nothing for ourselves in the way of healthy lifestyle practices.

Practicing consistent, realistic health and lifestyle practices will lend itself to strengthening our overall resilience. Increased resilience and strengthening our deep health will allow us to reduce the need to see the doctor / go to the hospital.

-Less trips / need to see the doctor, means less people in the hopsital/doctor's office. This means reduced weight times, less chance hospitals will be maxed out and an increased chance that you will get more efficient help and care when you DO really need the help.

-Less need to see the doctor, (especially as we age) means more time, energy and money spent on things we truly love.

-Less need to visit the hospital means an increased chance we will remain independant and able bodied as we get older.

-Less need to see a health care professional often, means more time for fun, happiness and moments life brings you, rather than stressing about prescriptions, surgeries or wait times.

In my over two decades in the industry, one thing that clients have in common, whether successful during our time together or "unsuccessful", is that they ARE taking a step to advocate for themselves and take CONTROL of their health, by hiring someone to help guide and educate them. Whether a client is "ideal weight" or "overweight", if they're going to see a coach a few days per week...

-They ARE doing something for their health.

-They ARE learning how to create positive change in regards to their deep health

-They ARE helping to dimish wait times and overload in our hospitals and doctor's offices

-They ARE working to reduce the need for medications

-They ARE working to reduce the risk of surgery

-They ARE learning ways to increase their years of independance

MOST of us could name AT LEAST 3 things, RIGHT NOW that we are doing in our daily habits that we KNOW aren't healthy for us. Yet we wait for the doctor to "tell us what do to", or we scower social media for "health advice", or we buy the "next best diet book" on the market... We wait until we are truly unhealthy, sick or worse before we do something. THAT only makes actually doing something harder! Instead, if we began to take control of our health habits NOW, when we feel ok or better, we'll have more energy and ability to create positive change.

We don't need to reinvent the wheel to be healthy.

We don't have to spend a fortune.

We don't need fancy equipment, diet books or even hire a coach if we don't want. However, we HAVE TO CHANGE OUR APPROACH to our health and work collectively to reduce our health care cost and burden on the system.

As I finish I'll remind you what the Fraser Institute Infographic shows (see link earlier in this post);

WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING

(collectively) IS NOT WORKING!!!!

If we WANT change, we NEED TO TAKE ACTION and STOP COMPLAINING.

ONLY YOU CAN MAKE YOURSELF HEALTHY.