At the end of the sixteenth century, Desiderius Erasmus wrote the well-known wise words “prevention is better than cure”. What have we learned from this in our Western world in 2023? Well not much, you would say, knowing that 97% of our healthcare budget is spent on curative care, and only 3% on preventive care. (1) And yes we do preventive care, everyone knows the consultation centers where you, as proud young parents, go with your newborn sprout, the GGD programs for monitoring the health of our little princes and princesses and of course very recently the corona vaccination policy. But in an aging society, where we expect that in 2040 60% of people will be registered with their GP with one or more chronic conditions, and in 2040 62% of people will be overweight (2). We will have to think the other way around. The health concept of “Positive Health” by founder Machteld Huber sets a good example in this regard.
“Positive Health” chooses a different angle. The emphasis here is not on illness, but on people themselves, on their resilience and on what makes their lives meaningful. According to Huber, health is “the ability to adapt and self-manage in the face of life’s social, physical and emotional challenges”. (1) So it’s about how resilient you are to the challenges in your life, where health is not a goal, but a means to do what you really think is important, a means to lead a meaningful life!
What can you do concretely now?
The spider web has been developed from “Positive Health”, which provides insight into how you experience your health from six dimensions.
Go to https://mijnpositievegezondheid.nl/tools/hoewerkthet and take the test and get started with what matters to you, and what you would like to change! And tie those wise words of Erasmus in your ears and live a healthy life, so that you can give meaning to your beautiful unique life from your full potential!
I wish you very positive health
Raphaelle van der Weide
Lifestyle coach and yoga & meditation teacher
Source reference:
(1) https://mijnpositievegezondheid.nl from Institute of Positive Health (iPH) Machteld Huber
(2) https://www.volksgezondheidtoekomstverkenning.nl/c-vtv/trendscenario-update-2020/ diseases – from National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
