The Center for Collaborative Study of Trauma, Health Equity, and Neurobiology

Taking a Hard Look at our Medical Model

Our Healthcare System is often called Advanced

We can each think of MANY things that are wrong with our current system of Healthcare, education, and many other systems.  Our current healthcare model has not allowed us to achieve health or health equity.   The number of problems we face can seem overwhelming!
Could these seemingly separate problems be connected to each other?

Is part of the PROBLEM our current MODEL  --  the way we see and understand what we are facing?

Let's take a look at our current medical model:
  • We focus on parts separate from each other—individual organs, the brain or the body in isolation instead of looking at the whole person. 
  • Often, we address symptoms rather than looking for underlying causes
 
 Our Fragmented Model
of Brain and Body

 

We act as if the Brain is disconnected from the Body

and view the Organ Systems
as if they operated independently.

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ALSO we tend to

   o  See an individual person separately from their family, community, and circumstances over time, and we certainly see ourselves as separate from nature.
   o  Forget about human development and what is possible at various life stages.
   o  Ignore the elephant in the room:  racism, poverty, lack of basic needs
   o  Tend to focus on people's deficits instead of celebrating their strengths; instead of seeing people and situations as complex and nuanced, we often blame the individual instead of evaluating systems to see whether the structure of the system might be the real problem
   o  As Healthcare Providers, too often we move quickly to refer people to a specialist or the quick fix of a prescription.  If people don't follow our advice, we may label patients as non-compliant or exclude them from access to care.

RESULTS of our Typical Approach:

   o  We see Chronic Disease and many social problems as having no known cause (when in fact, the causes are right in front of us)
   o  Although we spend huge sums each year on “controlling” disease, controlling kids, controlling teachers - this approach has never been shown to work - and scientifically is a complete misunderstanding of what the problem is.
   o  Our Healthcare System is very expensive – with disappointing results
   o  Our country has shocking Health and Educational Disparity

Can we do better?
New Model

Fortunately, a new Medical Model has emerged based on rigorous science.

Research has recognized that it is impossible to understand or promote health until we recognize that the Brain-Body are a unified system:

  • continuously communicating within itself
  • influenced by and influencing the outside world
  • and sustained through a natural, inborn process - REGULATION
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