Dr. David Beaumont Calls For A Radical Shift In The Health Care System And In The Health Of New Zealanders

The delivery of healthcare is ripe for disruption. The health system is failing to meet the needs of the population as medical services become more specialised, more expensive and less sustainable. If the $4 trillion spent globally, each year, on health and wellbeing is anything to go by, patients are looking for a more whole-person and holistic approach to health.

Dr. David Beaumont has spent many years working in the health system — both here and in the UK — and is calling for a shift in the system. Dr. Beaumont believes it is time for not just system change, but meta-system change, the system beyond the system. Not only is the health system failing patients but doctors are becoming increasingly burnt out. A 2016 survey of senior New Zealand doctors found that nearly 50 percent were suffering one or more of the three symptoms of burnout: emotional exhaustion, cynicism or compassion fatigue, and doubt that one is making a difference. This finding can be seen around the world.

Positive Medicine, his new book, is an empowerment model which gives people the tools and a framework to become the experts in their own health, and to see how all aspects of their life are interlinked. Getting this right improves the quality of life and happiness.

‘We need to move into the prevention of disease,’ explains Dr. Beaumont. ‘In fact, we need to go even further beyond prevention of disease, to the enhancement of health. I propose that doctors provide the thought leadership for the revolutionary change to Positive Medicine to deliver the positive health that people are asking for.’

The current measure of health is based on the understanding that health is the absence of disease, this is no longer adequate for the changing world and does not serve the people, their whanau, or communities. Instead, Positive Medicine is based on more forward-thinking and whole person definitions, especially, “health is the ability to control our lives”. This is captured in the concept of the Māori word Rangatiratanga.

Based on the Māori Model of Health, Te Whare Tapa Whā, Positive Medicine will help people develop their own plan for life, health and happiness within the four pillars of health: physical health, psychological health, whanau/family health and spiritual health.

Positive Medicine gives practical advice and provides an accessible, challenging, thought-provoking view of how medical practice needs to change to become person-focused.

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