Kaiser Permanente is interested in helping people escape the industrial food system and live healthier lives. As such, it regularly funds initiatives to spread the message about better diets and nutrition and dispel many existing myths.
Recently, the organization partnered with the Chattahoochee Nature Center to sponsor various volunteer events, including the community garden. The idea is to grow food locally that charities can use in their meal prep, serving more than 50 tonnes of fresh produce to those in need.
The scheme is part of a wider acceptance that the way the U.S. does food needs to change. Current practices are no longer sustainable for the health of the population, with millions of people developing new chronic diseases due to diet every year. Industrial food is not a part of human evolutionary history and, therefore, causes metabolic issues when consumed over a lifetime.
The construction of the community garden is part of Kaiser Permanente’s focus on preventive medicine. It consistently funds organizations, like Nutrition Facts, that present evidence on the power of lifestyle modifications to improve health. The group believes in catching issues early and reversing them instead of waiting until there is a clinical need. This approach reduces the risk of chronic disease and slashes long-term costs into the future.
Kaiser Permanente’s approach to this focuses on patient-centered care. It encourages regular checkups and screenings so individuals can keep track of their health progress and whether their situation is improving. There are also wellness programs and initiatives to enable people to fight some of the temptations they face in their daily lives and focus on what matters.
“The focus on prevention and remission is essential in a world where medical costs are rising,” says Sober Maps, a service that helps people find a drug rehab in their city. “That’s why nipping issues in the bud early and ensuring that they don’t develop into anything more serious is essential. Part of this involves using more technology in the healthcare system, and part of it requires using systems that allow staff to monitor their patients better and track their progress.”
Community health initiatives like these are, of course, most needed in poorer communities. Charities and public health groups must plow millions of dollars into health initiatives, like gardens, to provide people with the skills they need to survive and thrive in years to come.
Part of this work by organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, is to draw people closer to the land. Getting them to understand food and where it comes from can be a powerful way to reconnect with nature and understand the human role in the world.
Health education and lifestyle support can supplement these efforts. Enabling people to understand what a healthy choice looks like in reality (instead of what they see on social media), enhances health considerably and leads to real differences in people’s lives.
Mental health support is more valuable in circumstances affecting those with conditions that prevent healthy living (or make it more challenging). Kaiser Permanente and others are showing enormous resolve to deal with these issues to boost community outcomes.
“This trend toward focusing on mental health is particularly strong among rehab clinics,” explains Sober Maps. “Numerous facilities are now performing co-occurring interventions that focus on the medical and mental health aspects of helping someone get off drugs. Many make twenty-four-hour counseling and therapy available for those needing support at any time.”
The rehabilitation aspect of this picture is critical to ensuring that people can lead the lives that they want in the context of the current drug problem. The U.S. is home to more opioid users than ever before, leading to a crisis of monstrous proportions, with many of the problems difficult to tackle without taking a holistic approach.
Interestingly, taking part in outdoor, communal activities, like gardening, is one of the methods drug rehabilitation experts suggest to help people steer clear of relapse long-term. Being a part of something bigger is often the best defense against slipping into old habits because the entire community is there to offer support.
“Many drug rehab clinics spend a lot of time talking about the value of having a focus once a patient leaves the clinic. Having them focus on something outside of themselves is the best strategy to get through those critical first few months and emerge the other side sober.”
The garden, Kaiser Permanente says, is in Georgia and will provide support to the Chattahoochee Nature Center, allowing volunteers to join year-round. It will also supply essentials to its helpers to make the experience safe and pleasant, including cooling towels, sunscreen, tents, and water. The organization wants local people to tend to the garden and meet with each other, getting them out of their apartments and suburban houses and into the community proper.
Kaiser Permanente also says that it wants to use the healthy living garden for the Chattahoochee Nature Center’s upcoming Eco Challenge. This event will invite teams and corporations from across the state to engage in various team-building exercises and learn more about the natural resources in the region and why they require protection.
This focus is reminiscent of Kaiser Permanente’s holistic approach. It believes interventions work best when society changes several things at once that support each other. Mental health, food, community, and technology are all part of the solution, as it sees it, allowing the organization to improve outcomes far beyond what would be possible with single interventions, isolated from everything else.
“You see this attitude in many rehab clinics,” says Sober Maps. “Professionals know that if they can transform a person’s life from the ground up, they are more likely to succeed long-term and avoid relapse in years to come. Many times, this approach involves talking to family and getting their buy-in, providing transitional housing, focusing on their mental health, and providing them with life skills that will help them avoid drug use in the future.”
Sustainable and innovative healthcare solutions are becoming far more essential with each passing year. It is becoming clear the current situation cannot last.
