Delegates at the annual TEDMED conference -- currently underway in Washington, D.C. -- held a vote on the 20 greatest health and medicine challenges for 2012. Determining this list of 20 is part of TEDMED's Great Challenges Program, a partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to provide America and the world with a "comprehensive view" on the "most complex and persistent health problems."
Now that the list is set, TEDMED will spend the year investigating these 20 great challenges by interviewing experts and leaders on the topics and will broadcast these segments at TEDMED.com. TEDMED will also conduct webinars on the 20 issues.
As TEDMED begins its exploration of these issues, Gallup data and research can provide information about how the United States is doing on some of these key challenges and insights into how to address some of them.
Inventing Wellness Programs: The first challenge on the TEDMED list is one Gallup knows a lot about. Gallup wellbeing experts Tom Rath and Jim Harter spent years researching the essential elements of wellbeing. They eventually narrowed it down to five -- career, social, financial, physical, and community. The elements are universal and interconnected -- and they go beyond the eating right and exercise parts of wellbeing to reveal what makes life worthwhile. Rath and Harter wrote a book about these five elements and created a program that empowers organizations and individuals to measure and improve their wellbeing. They also analyze the costs to workplaces of not managing employees' wellbeing here.
The Caregiver Crisis: Gallup and Healthways have conducted a large amount of research on caregiving in America. Their surveys find that more than one in six American workers also act as caregivers and that the middle-aged, blacks, and Hispanics are among the most likely to be caregivers. Gallup also knows that caregivers face significant physical and emotional issues and that caregiving costs the U.S. economy about $25.2 billion in lost productivity per year. TEDMED wants to explore the question: "What innovations can we develop specifically to support the caregiver community?" Well, the Gallup-Healthways data, taken together, reveal that a start would be providing caregivers the support and assistance they need in the workplace. Specifically, many working caregivers lack access to support groups, ask-a-nurse type services, financial/legal advisers, and assisted living counselors -- all of which could help offset the challenges they face.
The Obesity Crisis: Gallup and Healthways track American adults' weight status daily as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Although obesity declined very slightly in 2011, it remains high at 26.1%. When you add to that the percentage of adults who are overweight, you end up with more than half the U.S. adult population at an unhealthy weight. Targeting the groups who are struggling the most with obesity -- blacks, low-income Americans, and those aged 45 to 64 -- may be a first step toward addressing the nation's costly and deadly obesity crisis.
Managing Chronic Diseases: High blood pressure (30%) and high cholesterol (26.2%) are the most prevalent chronic illnesses in the United States. Asthma (11.7%) and diabetes (10.9%) also affect large portions of the population. Reducing obesity, and getting more Americans to exercise frequently andeat healthier are three key challenges to tackling high rates of chronic disease.
Making Prevention Popular: Gallup wellbeing experts Tom Rath and Jim Harter, in their aforementioned book "Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements," describe what their research found on how to boost prevention habits. One of their major discoveries is the need to "make better choices in the moment." The authors note that "problems occur when our daily actions work against the best interests of our overall, long-term wellbeing." Rath and Harter say that if individuals find small opportunities each day to change their routine by even a little and set what they call "positive defaults" people can significantly improve their wellbeing in the long-run.
Impact of Poverty on Health: Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data find that health disparities across income groups in the United States are wide-ranging. Lower-income Americans are more likely than their higher-income counterparts to have chronic health problems, to be obese, and to experience negative emotions and are less likely to have access to healthcare and to have good health habits.
Impact of Stress: TEDMED asks: "Given that stress is difficult to quantify and varies from person to person, how do we better understand the role of stress in the larger picture of health?" Well, it turns out, Gallup and Healthways actually know a great deal about how to measure stress. In fact, they monitor it in the United States on a daily basis. The more than one million interviews Gallup and Healthways have conducted since 2008 reveal the following key points: 1. Stress is highest among those in their 20s and then declines significantly with age; 2. Those who spend more time socializingexperience less stress; 3. Workers who are engaged in their jobs are immune to stress from long commutes; 4. Americans experienced some of their most stressful days during the financial crisis; 5.Very religious Americans experience less stress than those who are less religious; and 6. Those who are obese report more stress than those who aren't. Those are just some of the discoveries Gallup and Healthways have made about stress. You can read more here.
Promoting Active Lifestyles: See "Making Prevention Popular" above. Leading an active lifestyle is an inextricable part of prevention.
Addressing Healthcare Costs: This is a big one. A really big one. And one that leaders will need to come at from a lot of different angles -- this involves legal, economic, and ethical perspectives. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently debating the who should pay part, as they argue the legality of President Barack Obama's healthcare law. But, regardless of the court's decision, the healthcare industry, businesses, and individuals will all play a role in addressing the incredibly complex issue of high healthcare costs. You can review Gallup's need-to-know facts about healthcare here and learn about the uninsured, whether the 2010 healthcare law is having an impact and what Americans think about it, and how Americans feel about the U.S. healthcare system.
Learn more about all of the 20 great challenges here. As TEDMED further explores these challenges in the year ahead, we will continue to provide you with everything Gallup knows about each topic here on Thrive. Gallup and Healthways survey 1,000 American adults about their health and wellbeing every day and report new findings every week at Gallup.com.