The Unmentionables: Is “Life” the Missing Link?

Most of us toiling away in the health industry feel enormously driven to improve the health of society…and yet, with all the best intentions, there remains a gaping yaw between the health we seek for humans and the health reality we experience. Often that goes not just for those we seek to impact, but for ourselves as well. Why?

Because many of us ignore a fundamental truth: Health is life…and when life goes wrong, health goes wrong. Maslow’s hierarchy reminds us that if our most basic needs are not met, it becomes difficult to prioritize (or even care about) much else. If your mother with Alzheimer’s just moved in, you hate your boss, and you’re pretty sure your partner is having an affair, are you really thinking about your diabetes?

This is not a novel concept—in 1998 the Adverse Childhood Experiences study demonstrated a clear link between life experience, and health—and the data has only grown from there. Alexandra will review her own work in this area, as well as the increasing body of evidence suggesting that treating life challenges with as much intensity as we treat traditional health factors just might be “the missing link.”