The Future Of Healthcare And Hospitals From A People Perspective

Part 2: Outside the Box

More Inside the Box

Before I move on to Outside the Box, there is more to discuss here – triggered by my husband’s very recent hospitalization. In the last article, I discussed the way we treat our bodies as machines – and to expand on this analogy, we generally treat parts of the machines separately, fixing each component rather than even the machine as a whole. Again, it is a “push” system – where drugs are frequently given to cure specific symptoms: antibiotics for infection, painkillers of some sort for the pain, something for the diarrhea and nausea caused by the antibiotics…and so on. Efforts are made to ensure that there are no serious drug interactions, but when I saw the amount of medication being dripped intravenously or swallowed, I was shocked. The nurses were wonderful and they went to great lengths to provide amazing care. But the system itself seemed to me to be rather archaic. Shifts, in which the nurses turned over their charges to the next team somewhat chaotically, and all at the same time, for instance. Why not stagger the turnover, so that there is some continuity in case of emergency? Why do nurses, who are doing shifts the following day, and who have developed rapport with the current patients and understand their preferences, get moved to different patients the following day?   I was reminded more of a production line than anything resembling a people-oriented service.

Yes, they do use computers to record stuff – I assume diagnoses of the problems, results of tests, times of delivering medications and more, orders for more or less treatment or drugs, specialists that need to be seen…and so on, but I am sure that nothing related to patient preferences, characteristics, sense of humor, interests is in there to provide a more human touch.

Back in 1982, John Naisbitt coined the phrase “Hi Tech, Hi Touch” in his best-selling book Megatrends, and many of us (generally futurists) liked that idea, especially for services such as healthcare. In 1999 he published another book, “Hi Tech, Hi Touch,” In it, he examined the two biggest markets in the United States – first, consumer technology and the dangers it imposes, and second, our instinct to escape from it. He suspected, correctly, that the technology would win. It is still winning, although there are some glimpses of hope in apps designed for helping doctors make house-calls – more of that later.

What is Outside the Box?

In general terms, outside the box there are systems of systems and worlds within worIds. Our physical bodies alone are complex systems of systems.

As mentioned above, we give one drug to perform one function in one part of the system, and we’re lucky if it does it without interfering negatively with another. If we add in the psychological systems, then the whole mind-body system becomes even more complex fast. Many opioid addictions started as pain relievers, for instance. What has caused us, especially in the West, to become so unaware of what we are doing to our total body, mind, emotional and spiritual systems? I think we became so enamored of science that we believed that we could use it to solve all out problems. I’m certainly not a Luddite – far from it – it has enabled us to solve huge, global problems, but it is not a panacea.

Let’s Take a Look from a Long Way Outside the Box

I am so appreciative of Peter Canova’s recent 4-part article on The God Particle and You, in as much as it helps me to describe what’s outside the box in scientific terms, based on the discovery of the Higgs Boson.

The Box is our perception of the physical, material world that has been created by us, based on our thoughts and beliefs. Canova provides a series of quotations from famous scientists to illustrate his hypotheses:

Einstein said, “We have all been wrong. What we call matter is energy, whose vibration has been lowered as to be perceptible to the senses.”

Max Planck, the father of quantum physics stated that “Behind the existence of all matter is a conscious and intelligent mind—this mind is the matrix of all matter.”

In other words, what we perceive as “solid matter” is actually energy whose frequencies have been slowed down. Canova suggests we are the programmers projecting ourselves. The thought forms we imagine in our minds and invest energy into have every possibility of manifesting, because we share the power of the Consciousness that created us… Because we haven’t realized this, we create unconsciously. The problem with unconscious creation is that it’s out of our control, often negative, and it comes back to bite us in what appears as bad luck or external fate.

So… the big, outside the box idea, is that our problems – of ill-health or anything else – are created unconsciously by ourselves. We attribute them to external circumstances, and because we do not take conscious credit for them, we unwittingly slow down the energy and create patterns of ill-health. And we then look to external agencies to solve our health problems generally by physical means. It’s like using a sledge-hammer rather than a scalpel. The system of systems in which we live is actually Consciousness/energy – and we are part of this Consciousness and actually use its energy to create our reality – but generally unconsciously.

How can we start to see a larger box, or get out of the old one?

While some may see these ideas as “woo-woo,” this idea that we create our own reality is both new and ancient. In the bible, we see the notion “As ye sow, so shall ye also reap,” and other similar ideas. In recent years, it has become known as the “law of attraction.” It is not easy to understand properly and to put into practice, but observation of action/thought and reaction can help.

I’m sure many of us have had the experience of being in a bad mood, and then, while we’re slamming around complaining, we have minor accidents such as cutting a finger, tripping and banging a shin.   We speak about getting out of the wrong side of bed, when describing why our day started badly. We have sayings such as “the better it gets, the better it gets.” All of these things are illustrations of the same creative principle.

Every one of us is surrounded by measurable electro-magnetic fields.   They come from our brain, our heart, our stomach, and from every cell.   Every thought produces a frequency, so does every word.

Researchers in neuroscience and other medical disciplines are beginning to recognize the importance of these energetic fields. The Heartmath Institute (www.heartmath.org) has measured the electro-magnetic fields surrounding the human body.   The field emanating from the brain extends out around our heads about 12-18 inches.   The field from our heart generally extends out 20-30 feet, and has been measured (by other researchers) at over a mile.

Our heartwaves and brainwaves interact. If they are incoherent, we feel stress and other negative emotions, and these are what cause ill-health. If they are coherent, we feel clear and calm. Heartmath has a very easy technique, Quick Coherence[1], to bring these heart and brainwaves into coherence or alignment.

When we come close to another person – either intentionally, as in a meeting, or unintentionally, as in a store or on public transportation – our energy fields interact.   That is why we can sometimes find ourselves attracted to a person, or repelled by a person. So… all day, every day, we are giving out “signals” and since everything in the world is energy at its basis, that signal attracts or repels stuff and people. It is likely that it is the interactions of these energy fields that causes what we call intuition.   So practicing even this brief technique described below can help sharpen our intuition and awareness of these larger, energetic systems.

I believe that Einstein was correct when he said: “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

[1] Quick Coherence® When you feel stress, anxiety, anger or other negative emotions, Quick Coherence helps you release them through heart focus, heart breathing and activation of genuine heart feelings such as love or care. Focus your attention on the area around your heart, the area in the center of your chest. If you prefer, the first couple of times you try it, place your hand over the center of your chest to help keep your attention in the heart area. Breathe deeply but normally and feel as if your breath is coming in and going out through your heart area. Continue breathing with ease until you find a natural inner rhythm that feels good to you.