Addressing behavioral health to improve all health
By Steven Ross Johnson
Modern Healthcare
Each year, the nation’s health system spends billions of dollars trying to treat, manage and prevent an array of avoidable conditions that only continue to grow in prevalence.
Nearly two-thirds of all deaths annually are attributable to chronic conditions. Patients with chronic conditions account for 81% of all hospital admissions, 91% of all prescriptions filled and 76% of all physician visits. Roughly 86% of the $2.9 trillion spent on healthcare in 2013 was related to chronic disease.
More than 190 million Americans—58% of the population—have at least one chronic condition, while more than 30 million have three or more. Projections indicate that the number of people living with multiple chronic illnesses will more than double by 2050 to 83 million if current trends continue.
Yet the effort to stem or even reverse the rising numbers of Americans who develop chronic illness has fallen short.
It’s a problem the healthcare system remains mostly unprepared to effectively address. Years of research and initiatives focused on prevention and promoting healthier behaviors have missed the mark because they fail to tackle arguably the single greatest contributor to the chronic disease epidemic—mental illness.
For years, behavioral health was largely ignored when it came to determining the factors involved in physical health. Primary-care physicians traditionally shied away from considering emotional or mental health as a root cause of chronic diseases. Yet, data show that the two are closely linked. Full article HERE.
Nearly two-thirds of all deaths annually are attributable to chronic conditions. Patients with chronic conditions account for 81% of all hospital admissions, 91% of all prescriptions filled and 76% of all physician visits. Roughly 86% of the $2.9 trillion spent on healthcare in 2013 was related to chronic disease.
More than 190 million Americans—58% of the population—have at least one chronic condition, while more than 30 million have three or more. Projections indicate that the number of people living with multiple chronic illnesses will more than double by 2050 to 83 million if current trends continue.
Yet the effort to stem or even reverse the rising numbers of Americans who develop chronic illness has fallen short.
It’s a problem the healthcare system remains mostly unprepared to effectively address. Years of research and initiatives focused on prevention and promoting healthier behaviors have missed the mark because they fail to tackle arguably the single greatest contributor to the chronic disease epidemic—mental illness.
For years, behavioral health was largely ignored when it came to determining the factors involved in physical health. Primary-care physicians traditionally shied away from considering emotional or mental health as a root cause of chronic diseases. Yet, data show that the two are closely linked. Full article HERE.
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