In the last article, we learned about how the physical environment affects us and how we can safeguard ourselves from potential toxins, as recommended by Dr. Rhea Mehta, Molecular Toxicologist, integrative nutrition advisor, and leader in health advocacy. In this last article of this series, we are going to see what is the future of healthcare with advancements in technology.
The Future of Tracking and Compliance
Rhea’s father was diagnosed with a lifestyle-triggered cancer, which naturally made Rhea an advocate of lifestyle medicine. She believes that we, as a community, need better measures in place to organize our health. We can’t simply rely on our doctors to manage our health records. They have thousands of patients to worry about and their own lives on top of that. We must take health into our own hands. For some of us, health discipline comes easy. But for the majority of us, we need support and accountability.
Thanks to technological innovation, we can now use digital apps and wearables to help track and organize our daily health activities and our medication use, in a way that’s easy for us to access and understand. That is the future of healthcare, and the good news is it’s here! We don’t think about our own health data that much until we get sick, and that is a problem. Because once a poor diagnosis arrives, like what Rhea experienced for her father, you have to act quick out of the fear that is moving through you and your family. If your data is stored in multiple systems, it becomes really hard to understand the options ahead of you.
Data as the Medicine for the Future of Healthcare
Since we live in the digital age, Rhea envisions a globally portable health and wellness digital healthcare system that is owned and controlled by each person. You should be able to log on to a secure platform that has all your information, fully encrypted and only visible by you, the holder of the key. This information can then begin to work for you through analytics and personalized feedback thanks to machine learning. There should also be an easy way to share your information with researchers and your team of practitioners, but on your own terms, and with incentives in place to ensure you feel empowered every step of the way. This idea of a democratized digital healthcare system is Rhea’s vision for the future—and she is well on her way to executing on it.
A Free Mobile App To Build Your E-Health Wallet
Rhea recommends that you should get into a habit of digitally tracking your sleep, hydration, energy levels, stool type, and any chronic symptoms, as a way to add more value to your future health and happiness. It’s also a good idea to complete a full health status and history questionnaire periodically to add to our digital health wallet, as she calls it. Rhea used her learnings and insights from her client self-care tracker to build a digital version in the form of a mobile application that has now been downloaded over 100K times. You can search for her company’s app on the apple store and google app store, called “Better by Bowhead”.
Self-care is the Greatest Act of Service
Rhea believes that when we truly learn and practice how to take care of and honor ourselves, we are then gifted with the energy and drive to challenge some of the world’s biggest issues. She believes that is the path to enlightenment—it starts with self-love. When generosity, empathy and humility become a part of our fabric, we become servants to our collective well being, which includes consideration and care for all sentient beings. We step out of our individual experience and become one with all.
Here’s to the life-long journey of self-love, and ultimately, one love.