What Does Healthcare Have to Do with Sustainability?

By | January 13th, 2010 5 Comments

As major news outlets talk about “Cadillac plans” and “public options,” it only seems appropriate to take a couple deep breaths, push the stethoscope to the proverbial belly of our culture, and try to find out what it really means to be healthy in this day and age.

Throughout the rest of January, 3p will be featuring articles investigating how sustainability and health intersect. We’ll feature interviews with people behind some of the biggest names in the industry, give glimpses into the innovative models utilizing technology and social media to deliver care in new and unique ways and talk about the trends as we see them (like this article on Stryker from yesterday). Hopefully it will offer some necessary clarity and insight into such a complex topic.

But as health is such a personal thing, we also want to hear from you about the most important issues and stories that affect our lives. Leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #3p hashtag to tell us what you think are the healthcare stories that shock, scare or even inspire you.

5 Comments

Categorized: Policy & Government|

  • http://www.earth2017.com/ Bill Roth

    Ashwin, great topic. A sustainable health system (with affordable as a sustainable criteria) is critical to green job growth. Mid to small sized businesses (which is the size of many pioneering companies in clean tech) are the source of new jobs in the American economy. But I can tell you that my network of entrepreneurs are struggling with the cost of health insurance and this is impacting their ability to add work associates.

    Can't end on a negative, just my personality! The great news is that consumers across America are adopting wellness into their lifestyles which is the ultimate sustainable health system. Here one small example, my town's community garden had more volunteers in 09 than we could use and over the winter there are tens of families now working with local experts installing gardens as part of their home's landscaping. In middle-America suburbia!

    Readers, any other example large or small of middle America's embrace of wellness??

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ashwin-Seshagiri/1214790 Ashwin Seshagiri

    Hey Bill, thanks for the thoughts. I definitely agree that affordability is a huge deal, and that things do look to be the most optimistic right now. I love the story of your town's embracing of the community garden. This is definitely the kind of stuff we need more of—wellness through community building!

  • juliekathryngraham

    Looking forward to this series! Wellness and Sustainability have a thriving dynamic relationship. We have a great opportunity, given the current climate of healthcare reform, to work new sustainability initiatives into planning future healthcare. Since many healthcare agencies often operate in the red, there is a lot of resistance to new initiatives when meeting bottoms lines is such a pressing challenge. They do however, respond with vigor, to Federal and State mandates, as this translates into funding. Let's set some public policy initiatives to encourage compliance with sustainable practices!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Ashwin-Seshagiri/1214790 Ashwin Seshagiri

    Hey Bill, thanks for the thoughts. I definitely agree that affordability is a huge deal, and that things do look to be the most optimistic right now. I love the story of your town's embracing of the community garden. This is definitely the kind of stuff we need more of—wellness through community building!

  • juliekathryngraham

    Looking forward to this series! Wellness and Sustainability have a thriving dynamic relationship. We have a great opportunity, given the current climate of healthcare reform, to work new sustainability initiatives into planning future healthcare. Since many healthcare agencies often operate in the red, there is a lot of resistance to new initiatives when meeting bottoms lines is such a pressing challenge. They do however, respond with vigor, to Federal and State mandates, as this translates into funding. Let's set some public policy initiatives to encourage compliance with sustainable practices!