A new model for community health care will have its roots in the functional medicine model, which seeks to treat the cause of an individual’s suffering, not just their symptoms. Due to dietary changes, the liberal use of recreational drugs, pharmaceuticals and modern-day stressors, millennials have higher long-term illness rates than previous generations. Even before the Covid -19 pandemic, society was becoming increasingly isolated, perhaps due to communication advancement through technology. Unless there is a shift towards healthier, happier communities, an epidemic of autoimmune conditions and cognitive decline amongst our population is inevitable.

When things go wrong, the consensus is to go to the Doctor for a quick fix. But the increasing prescription of pharmaceuticals over diet and lifestyle intervention is potentially exacerbating the problem. Long term health conditions pose a substantial drain on our health care system. With the current health care system barely meeting demand, we must educate our population to seek radical self-care over disease management. The solution is health preservation. Our message must become more than eating ‘5 a day’. It must become a movement where education drives logic. Firstly, we need to meet our communities where they are at, providing care and support for the infirm and chronically ill. Educating the young around emotional intelligence in a safe, nurturing environment will instil seeds of change for future generations. Therapeutic hubs, where the public can access integrative care and learn about health maintenance, will dilute some of the bottlenecks authorities face.

This work’s need has increased due to the gradual degradation of community spirit that once knitted people together. Charles Einstein’s seminal work Sacred Economics describes how we have shifted from the gift economy to the age of separation, ‘we have become helplessly independent’. Without community, we are dependent on daycare for our children, private health care for the elderly and counselling for barely getting by. 

The smart approach is to educate people that holistic, therapeutic care significantly impacts the broader landscape. That, with the correct direction, could also improve our economy. We must reinstate community care throughout our population and plant seeds of confidence based on professional support and trust. Developing therapeutic care hubs and deploying trained therapists will generate enthusiasm and resilience across communities.

Building health partnerships with local providers is fundamental and will require a network of professional practitioners that follow an ethos of integrative leadership. The work will include holistic therapy services, well-being training, affordable training and CPD units to instil vocation. The core delivery of this work will deliver the powerful message that ‘community collaboration heals’. Through fresh, sensitive social interactions and service delivery, everyone’s needs can be identified and addressed holistically.

By Glen Monks Voluntary Action Doncaster Trustee