Coming to Grips with Preventative Healthcare
“Have you noticed all the people running up and down the road,” John, a friend of mine who has lived many more seasons than myself. He was referring to the growing number of people who are taking preventative healthcare into their own hands.
“That’s called exercise,” I joked back to him. “That’s what people do to stay in shape and healthy these days.”
Thinking for a moment, the old woodsman who is nearing his 80th birthday, half jokingly said, “if they want exercise, just follow my footsteps. They’ll get all the exercise they need. They won’t have the time or energy to run and walk just for the sake of doing it.”
A child of the Depression era, John went on to explain how the people of his generation in rural Vermont got their exercise - cutting firewood, pitching hay, shoveling the driveway with a shovel, and mowing the lawn with a push lawn mower, one that often didn’t have a motor until the 1960s - to name a few.
Many people John’s age are relaxing away their golden years. He is not one of them. Instead he continues to work in the woods, not because he has to, but to stay agile and because it is what he enjoys. Although he grumbles about having to find time out of his busy life to visit his doctor, he knows that visiting him is an important part of staying healthy, hopefully for years to come. On the other hand, at his age he has come to accept his mortality even if his time should come while working in the woods. He just wants to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible.
During the past few years I too have noticed what John has noticed - that more people are on the go - running, walking, biking, doing anything to stay in shape or taking part in what many people now call preventative or proactive healthcare. In other words, I believe that a growing number of people of all ages are taking responsibility for their health and doing whatever they can to stay healthy.
Having an interest in history, I often look at events and trends with a historical eye. I could “theorize” that John is possibly right, the people of his generation didn’t need to “go and exercise” to remain lean, instead, the very act of life constituted exercise, at least in rural Vermont, and at least in their views. The challenges of the very act of living gave people like John and other rural Americans, including in rural Vermont, time to think of little more than survival.
By the 1950s our society began to undergo a major transformation. Electronic gadgets and gas powered machinery began to make our lives easier, or at least not so laborious. Televisions began to creep into our living rooms. Then by the 1970s some of the first video games began to hit the store shelves.
Technology made our lives better in many ways. Most people would agree that technology has improved our quality of life - at least in many ways. On the other hand, I believe that our current obesity epidemic, among children and adults, is one of the side effects of modern technology, or at least society’s ability to balance technology with the need for exercise. Most of our lives are far more sedentary than past generations.
With America’s waistlines continuing to expand, some would argue that people are not taking living a healthy lifestyle seriously. However, I think what John is seeing supports my theory that people are beginning to realize that exercise and healthy eating is as essential to a healthy life as having quality healthcare. I see more people taking responsibility for their healthcare destiny, with the support their primary care providers. Some of us are walking on tred mills, others are walking in circles on tracks, and yet others are taking to the sidewalks and road sides to get in shape. Others are simply tweaking their lifestyles to improve their health.
Possibly I’m looking at the world through rose colored glasses, only seeing the good, but from my observation I believe that thanks to increased education and awareness about preventative healthcare, an increasing number of people are realizing the importance of taking responsibility for their healthcare future, a future that if combined with regular visits to their primary care physicians, will hopefully result in longer and healthier lives.