Yoga for Decreasing the Chronic Pain of the Health Care System
By Kristine Kaoverii Weber | March 26, 2022
“Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Chronic Pain of Health Care
Pretty much everywhere in the world we’ve watched our health care systems struggle under the crushing weight of the pandemic. Sure, it’s important to applaud the heroic efforts of health care workers and cheer them on – but what they really need is relief from dysfunctional health care systems – which are suffering from their own particular kind of chronic pain.
Earlier this week, the British Journal of General Practitioners released a report called “GP Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Systematic Review” which confirms what we all already know – doctors worldwide are stressed, depressed, anxious, and burned out. It’s not just docs of course – many of the allied health professions are suffering.
Health care systems are ships sinking under their increasing allostatic load.
In the U.S., burned out clinicians have led the way in the “Great Resignation.” The Bipartisan Policy Center’s blog “Help Wanted: Health Care Worker Shortages” reports that 1 in 4 health care workers considered leaving their job since the onset of COVID, with 14% of respondents saying they were considering leaving the health care industry altogether.
This is an industry, already severely understaffed, which will need an extra 124,000 physicians by 2034 and over 1 million new registered nurses by 2030 to keep up with the demand. It’s a huge, stressed out workforce that could seriously use some yoga.
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Healthcare has been suffering since way before the pandemic – but it’s often crisis that wakes us up to the procrastination, denial, cynicism, and/or ignorance that lie at the root of our problems.
A report released by the Commonwealth Fund last year, “Health Care in the U.S. Compared to Other High-Income Countries” reported that out of 11 wealthy countries, the U.S. is at the very bottom of the list having both the highest infant mortality rate (5.7 deaths per 1,000 live births) and lowest life expectancy.
We are so NOT number one.
The report identified five major “pain points” in the system
- Access to care
- Care process
- Administrative efficiency
- Equity
- Health care outcomes
To put it bluntly, a country that fails to take care of its sick and vulnerable seriously lacks any sort of moral backbone.
The U.S. healthcare system has been in crisis for decades and the chronic pain that’s ensued from our inability to create sustainable, affordable, universal healthcare not only reflects a deeply entrenched grift, greed, responsibility shirking, and heartlessness, it has also resulted in a terribly unhealthy population.
A recent article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review, “Reimagining the US Public Health Sector” identified five drivers behind the health care crisis:
- Lack of understanding about public health and prevention
- Low levels of social cohesion
- Decreasing trust in institutions
- Persistent structural racism
- Polarization and politicization
“If we ever pass out as a great nation, we ought to put on our tombstone, ‘America died from a delusion that she had moral leadership.’” – Will Rogers
What’s the solution?
The solution is of course complicated and requires a massive shift in perspectives, priorities, values, and leadership across sectors. One initial shift will be acknowledging the reality that health isn’t created entirely by the healthcare system. Yoga, particularly dinacarya (yoga lifestyle recommendations), is a powerful, ancient health promotion and prevention strategy which has a lot to offer to this conversation.
The Rand Corporation’s recently released report, “Incorporating Complementary and Integrative Health Providers in the Public Health Pandemic Response” found that practitioners of Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) were an “underutilized public health asset in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” While the report was intended to lay out best practices for integrating CIH practitioners into future public health emergencies, it may also be a sign that it’s time for the yoga profession to step up.
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The Yoga Puzzle Piece
Yoga teachers often tell me that they want to help more, that they don’t have enough students, that they want to reach more people, and that they’re not sure how to find the folks who need what they offer.
Since we don’t have any licensure for yoga professionals yet (and it may not be the best route for everyone anyway), one route for yoga professionals may be to become Community Health Workers. This is typically an 80-100 hour training depending on the state. Community health workers can provide support in a variety of ways, but a key role is in their focus on the health of whole communities, not just individuals.
Can you imagine what would happen if the Community Health Worker world was populated with yoga teachers? How that would begin to transform the system, in a grassroots way, from the inside out?
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Yoga professionals have an opportunity, right now, to help reduce the long haul suffering of the health care system. We need to begin to actively engage with health systems, leading with our evidence base (particularly for chronic low back pain). Prevention is increasingly coming to the forefront as an important piece of the healthcare puzzle (again, it seems to be crisis that wakes us up to an obvious reality).
What if yoga professionals stepped out of the fitness box and started reconceptualizing ourselves as community health leaders? What do you think? How can yoga expand beyond its exclusive silo and get out into the world?
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This is an excellent article and deserves to be widely read.
Thank you so much Allison! Feel free to share it. xo
I wonder what the equivalent (Community Health Worker ) equivalent is in Australia? We initiatives in Social Prescribing here.
I don’t know but because your healthcare system is more publicly oriented, I would hope that there is some innovation. Social prescribing is certainly a possible route as well and there is precedent in the UK. Please check out Heather Mason’s work.
I would love to be recognized as a Community Health Worker. I think that it starts with forming relationships with other health professionals and working in tandem with them. Hmmm, how do we do this? 🤔
Actually you would want to look up the Community Health Worker (sometimes called Community Public Health Worker) qualifications in your state. Start to talk to the people who are working in the field, find out what they do and what the targets are for your specific community, and then think creatively how your skills as a yoga professional could be integrated.
Kendra – I think this is a great model but not sure if there’s a similar structure that would accommodate this in Australia. I was recently reading about a person who had trained as a Health/ Wellness Coach and she described her role as being like a conduit between the community and health care sector.
That’s great! Thanks Lesley
I really like the concept of a community worker rather than a fitness instructor. Is there anyone teaching in the UK who would like to collaborate with me and explore this further?
I think the UK already has a strong initiative with Social Prescribing. That’s what I would begin to look into in your community
This is so important, recently I have been thinking about community resilience and how we can foster this in our communities. Local services have been decimated and people have turned to focus on their family and close circle. Where I live in Southampton people seem to have become very selfish and dont look out for neighbours etc.
Yes I agree, very important at this time.
Katherine, are you based in Southampton, UK? Me too.
There are many of us who feel like this. Now is the time to integrate allopathic western medicine with all of the natural, ancient wisdom. Look out for The Peoples Health Alliance on social media. It’s an organic, emergent, community led healthcare net that aims to change to a new paradigm of health. It’s time to empower people to take back responsibility for our own health. So happy to read this blog and hopefully we all connect in creating a new way in health, for all x
Awesome! Thank you for the tip!!
I was not aware of the Community Health Worker concept prior to reading this article; apparently it’s not a program we have in Pennsylvania. My states and others have rural counties that are known to be lacking in health care resources. Bridge efforts like this could be helpful for initial line of defense capacities. It would also be a few steps ahead of the formal physical and mental health first aid training that I have now. Thank you for illustrating this idea!
Katherine, are you based in Southampton, UK? Me too.
I appreciate your efforts to create energy around health care issues. One of our local hospitals has indicated an interest in a meditation/ yoga program to support staff and have been unsuccessful at finding a time for sessions that staff would come to reportedly because of 12 hour days and eating at their work stations. Then before or after hours they care for families. One class that was scheduled at one building and resulted in no attendance and then was cancelled. In another area the taping of classes and posting of classes resulted in a few regular practitioners once they saw, experienced and could have flexible attendance and then at times would show up in person. In another area free volunteer classes for clients resulted in high interest and statements of appreciation, but when equipment broke in the client’s facility it took a month to get it repaired although staff and provider advocated for it weekly. You have stimulated more thought and I will consider and report developments.
Carol Brown
wow, you’ve certainly had lots of experiences Carol. Stick to it! You’re doing great work!