Living longer and better: What may help you do that

Wellness trends of 2017 will be far-reaching, says Susan Johnson, Ph.D., director of Health Promotion at the Medical University of South Carolina. Inspired by initiatives revealed at recent conferences, including the American College of Lifestyle and the HERO Forum, Johnson sees hospitals and health care leaders playing larger roles in the future in shaping community health.

This Q & A explores where she sees wellness and fitness trends heading in the future.

Q: Why should hospitals lead the charge?

Health care workers tend to be unhealthier than the general workforce, with higher rates of chronic disease as well as higher health care costs. A recent study cited in U.S. News & World Report noted that 54 percent of physicians report at least one symptom of burnout.

While hospital leaders have been examining the health care costs of their employees, as well as how their health translates into the delivery of quality care for some time, a small but growing number of hospital leaders are also beginning to consider their role in community health, including our own. Implementation teams working on the Imagine MUSC 2020 Healthy Communities effort are committed to creating strategies to improve well-being of the lives we touch, both on and off campus.  

Q: What are the wellness trends of 2017 that you’re most excited about? 

There are four that are really exciting. 

1. Supporting a movement from wellness to well-being

A traditional medical model is focused on remedying illnesses and ailments, whereas well-being has its roots in positive psychology and is focused on achieving a state of thriving across areas of one’s life, including health. Well-being considers the whole person, not just their physical health conditions and risks, taking into account such factors as purpose, social ties, financial health, community support and physical activity.

From an intervention perspective, the more we are able to understand about a person’s whole life context, the better able we are to address the root causes of their unhealthy behaviors and poor health outcomes. The best movement I've seen in expanding our definition of wellness to well-being comes from the ACLM's True Health Initiative and the Blue Zones Project. Both take a simplified approach to healthy living, focusing on simple recommendations that anyone can follow and that can significantly improve length and quality of life. 

2.Understanding that a healthy planet leads to healthy people

At the ACLM conference, over and over, we heard from experts in medicine and sustainability how protecting the health of our planet is critical to addressing global health concerns and how individuals and health care institutions can have an impact. Procurement, resource use, transportation and other policies and practices contribute to the health sector’s significant climate footprint.

By reducing this footprint and moving toward carbon neutrality, the health sector can demonstrate the path forward in response to climate change, thereby playing a leadership role in advocating for a healthy and sustainable future.

Individual behaviors can not only contribute to a healthier planet but can improve personal health. In most cases, the best choices for the environment are also the best choices for the planet, and for our health.

3.Understanding that healthy places lead to healthy people

Regardless of the “place” – the workplace, the community, the neighborhood, the school, the home; healthy places equal healthy people. The built environment encompasses all buildings, spaces and products that are created or modified by people. It impacts indoor and outdoor physical environments, as well as social environments and subsequently our health and quality of life. Access to nature, walking and biking trails, high quality air and water, along with good health policies and ordinances, are important factors in creating a health-promoting environment.

4.Using gamification to influence healthy behaviors

Gamification of coaching principles can motivate individuals to pursue mastery of new, healthier habits. Gamification mechanics such as digital dashboards and applying gamification tactics such as visual progress and reward cues can make tracking healthy habits and learning new skills more fun and helps to keep people motivated. 

Q: Tell us more about the Blue Zones Project.

I'm really excited about the Blue Zones Project because it takes what we have learned from seven very diverse global communities that have the highest numbers of centenarians that not only live longer, but live healthier and happier, and translates that information into nine principles that we can all apply to our own lives. A team of medical researchers, anthropologists, demographers, and epidemiologists uncovered nine common characteristics that help identify a path for up to 12 extra years of life, regardless of geographic location. These shared lifestyle behaviors are known as the Power 9 and focus on helping people move naturally, eat wisely, connect with others, discover purpose, and change their environments. The project helps communities and businesses apply these principles to make the healthy choice the easy choice.  

Q: Could the Charleston area try to become a blue zone, or at least a bluer one?

I absolutely think that Charleston could become a Blue Zones Project community. As we speak, the mayor is convening a wellness advisory council that could adopt this strategy for our community. I know that I will be sharing this information through my connections and hope, that in addition to the Charleston community, MUSC might also join the movement and create the first Blue Zones hospital.

Q: How does this relate to our proposed greenway and how do we go about changing culture here? 

I'm really excited to see MUSC leading in the medical greenway project and think that it is an important step in establishing our role in building a healthy community and also our willingness to collaborate with community, government and corporate partners to accomplish these goals. We know that if you change the environment to support healthy choices, that it will change individual behaviors.

Think about how the environment and culture around tobacco use has changed at and around MUSC since we created a tobacco-free campus and smoke-free medical district. Or how many people we see every day walking, biking and running on the Cooper River Bridge, building a safe, scenic and accessible pedestrian lane has increased physical activity and made it more visible and culturally accepted. Culture change happens when we create a supportive environment through policies, systems and a physical environment that encourages and incentivizes healthy behaviors. These behaviors become the norm - that is when true culture change occurs. 

Q: That’s not the only concept out there that provides a foundation for healthier living. There’s also the TrueHealth Initiative. What is that?

Founded by Dr. David Katz (Yale Prevention Research Center), the TrueHealth Initiative is the driver for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. It is a place where researchers, practitioners and professionals in the health care field can come together, set aside agendas and differing views on what it takes to be healthy and agree on core principles that we can all live by that can significantly reduce chronic disease and improve quality of life. Interestingly, they are very similar and well-aligned with the nine principles of the Blue Zone Project.  

Q: What can we adapt or learn from it?

As with the Blue Zones Project, healthy living shouldn't be complicated. Well-being and quality of life are the goals, and achieved through simple changes in diet, sleep, stress management, social interactions and physical activity. I love the 80/20 rule - not only in relation to eating (stop when you are 80 percent full), but for life in general. The goal is to try our best to make good decisions 80 percent of the time and the other 20 percent, accept that we are human and can't be perfect all the time. Enjoy all that life has to offer and just try to focus on the healthy aspects of life most of the time.

Q: If you could only get one message across to the public for the new year, what would it be?

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good and the 80/20 rule.  I think people tend to have an all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to their health, diet and exercise. Any movement in the right direction, such as following the recommendations we’ve talked about is better than nothing, and trying to make good decisions should not create more stress in our lives. If you ask most people what they value most, family, faith, career and health would be at the top of the list.

By following these guidelines, we can be there for our families, we can be more productive and engaged at work, at home, and in our communities and we can enjoy a healthy, happy life.