Making a Case for Whole Person Health

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Preventive Medicine
• Health Economics

Background:

• Conventional healthcare in the U.S. is fragmented by body system, leading to high costs and suboptimal patient outcomes.
• The current system prioritizes medication and brief provider interactions over lifestyle and behavioral health investments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advocate for a paradigm shift in healthcare delivery from a disease-centric model to a "whole person" approach.
• To compare the long-term health and economic implications of conventional versus whole person care.

Main Methods:

• A hypothetical patient, Mrs. M, was modeled from age 40 to 80 under two scenarios: conventional care (Version A) and whole person care (Version B).
• Health and healthcare utilization assumptions were developed for each scenario, with costs calculated using 2023 U.S. dollar resource prices.
• Assumptions for the conventional care scenario were validated against Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS) data.

Main Results:

• At age 80, the conventional care scenario resulted in a frail patient in a skilled nursing facility with cumulative costs of $353,155.
• The whole person care scenario depicted an active, healthy 80-year-old with cumulative costs of $52,425.
• Whole person care demonstrated substantial potential for both improved health and reduced healthcare spending.

Conclusions:

• Investing in healthy lifestyle factors like diet, physical activity, and stress management from middle age can lead to better health.
• A whole person care model offers a plausible pathway to enhanced well-being and significant reductions in overall healthcare expenditures.
• This case illustrates the long-term economic benefits of proactive, holistic health management over reactive, disease-focused treatment.