Why Personalized Care Is the Missing Piece in Modern Healthcare
Most people have had this experience at some point: You go to see a doctor, get your lab results back, and walk out of the office with either a prescription or "eat better", "exercise more" or "lose weight."
While there's nothing wrong with those things, neither of them is very helpful. Because life is not generic. The way you live your life, including the way you spend your time, your eating habits, your level of stress, among other things, are all going to be different from the next person. That’s exactly why so many people struggle to follow through, even when they want to get healthier.
That's where personalized care comes in.
Health isn’t just about what you’re prescribed
Healthcare has traditionally focused on treating the symptoms. These ways of thinking about health tend to ignore the larger issue: why did these problems occur in the first place?
Chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity take months, if not years to develop. They're formed by a combination of daily behaviors, your physical environment, stress, lack of quality sleep and the way your unique biochemistry reacts to food and other activities.
To treat only the symptoms of chronic disease without trying to address the causes is similar to trying to stop water leaking from a faucet while continuing to run water.
One-size-fits-all doesn’t work (and we all know it)
If you’ve ever tried following a generic diet plan or workout routine, you’ve probably seen this firsthand. What works for one person doesn’t always work for another.
There are definitely some individuals whose bodies respond well to changes in diet. There are others that won't. There are certainly people that lose weight easily through moderate amounts of exercise. Then again, there are those that require structured programs. Even medications can affect people differently based upon each person's unique biological makeup and lifestyle.
Despite this knowledge, most of our traditional health systems remain standardized. The gap between generic advice and individual realities is where patients often slip up.
What personalized care actually looks like
Personalized care is not just about customizing a patient's diet or exercise plan; it involves examining a patient's health from various perspectives and identifying relationships among those perspectives. At NOVI Health we start with a simple premise: health is developed daily, not simply managed during visits. Instead of being limited to the focus solely on laboratory test results, and rather than relying on the doctor-patient relationship alone, care at NOVI extends to:
The types of foods you choose to consume
Your levels of physical activity
Your sleeping patterns, stressors, and daily habits, and
Your historical medical record/metabolic profile.
Based on these factors, a customized treatment plan is then established for each patient, not just based on their specific medical condition.
Science + reality = success
One of the greatest barriers in healthcare is not determining what actions should be taken, but taking consistent action. Thus, when combining clinical expertise with continuous and relevant real-life support, personalized care has proven to be the most successful method of achieving sustained behavior change.
As part of its services, NOVI brings together doctors and nurses for medical treatment, registered dietitians for nutritional planning, fitness coaches for exercise development and behavioral support for developing and sustaining new behaviors.
NOVI does not overwhelm patients with information; it helps them achieve small, achievable objectives which result in lasting positive behaviors.
Technology can help but people matter too
Today, there is no scarcity of health-related applications and tracking devices. However, collecting data does not directly translate to changing behavior. Rather, it's how collected data is utilized that creates the opportunity for behavior modification. When provided with the correct platform technology can provide immediate real-time feedback regarding progress made toward goals achieved.
Technology can also identify potential trends or patterns that may otherwise be missed by humans. Ultimately, however, it works alongside real human support. People that can analyze data generated from technology and assist patients in interpreting it along with providing encouragement, guidance, and holding patients accountable when motivation wanes.
Ultimately, health is not merely about achieving certain statistical outcomes; it is about creating a healthier version of oneself.
Sustainable results come from making small daily choices
One of the largest misconceptions related to becoming healthier is that drastic changes are necessary. In fact, making small changes to daily behaviors (and maintaining consistency over time) will lead to sustainable improvements in health.
When guided appropriately these small choices add up to produce lasting effects.
A more realistic way to get healthier
Personalized care does not offer a rapid fix solution. Instead personalized care provides:
A greater understanding of your unique biochemistry
A plan tailored to your lifestyle
On-going support to ensure continued adherence to your plan.
Regardless of whether the ultimate goal is to prevent illnesses, live healthier for longer, or manage existing chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure or obesity, personalized care acknowledges a fundamental concept: Health is not created in isolation and it does not occur overnight.