Your health is in whose hands?
It's easy to overlook how fortunate we are in the UK to have a National Health Service. It can feel like we've been let down when we can't get a GP appointment or are placed on what seems to be an endless waiting list. However, when we consider the funds, resources, research, and hundreds of dedicated and devoted staff that go into creating the NHS that we often take for granted, it becomes more difficult to simply pass the buck and blame the NHS's shortcomings for our own health and well-being. At the end of the day, health is an inside job, and it is up to us as individuals to reclaim our health.
Many of us are utilising technology to acquire our own health data, insights, and understanding – and, even better, we are using that data to learn how to proactively manage and change our lives for optimum health — thanks to the rise of fitness applications and devices. However, such data is completely separate and unrelated to the massive quantity of data the NHS has on our health. This implies that instead of allowing the NHS to be proactive in their approach by providing you with the specific resources and assistance you require before you find yourself in a crisis, they are obliged to be reactive, leading to the current scenario.
Our Self-Health Kiosks are essentially digital gadgets that collect your data and filter it into the NHS's patient records. Whether it's your blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, height, weight, heart rate, or rhythm, the kiosks (which may be found at hospitals, health centres, and GP practises) will allow you to take control of your health and modify and enhance how the NHS provides services to you.
We've already made significant progress and discovered that providing individuals with the opportunity to understand their health not only improves individual wellbeing but also improves the way the NHS operates. We can save time and money if we can all agree on what we need and when we need it, and if we have an NHS service that can give it proactively.
It is apparent that the United Kingdom is in the midst of a major health crisis, with data on physical and mental health spiralling out of control. We are simply unable to continue our current attitude to health as individuals, as a society, and as a health service, and with a shift in terms of both funding and focus in the NHS coming in the near future, who will be accountable for our health happiness?
Of course, many of us happily believe that our physical and mental health are unrelated, but with one in every four of us experiencing poor mental health at some point in our lives and, for example, over 4 million people in the UK living with diabetes, it is undeniable that the two are inextricably linked. The problem, in our opinion, is that we have become naturally lazy when it comes to our health, preferring to invest in, understand, and improve the causes rather than the symptoms.
So, how can we change our attitude toward health, and who is responsible for improving the health of our health-care system and the overall well-being of our country? The only rational and long-term solution is, of course, ourselves, but rather than presuming that this is a simple step that we can all take, we recognise that we need to change our entire attitude to health in order to make this possible.
At EK Interactive, we think that in order to encourage and empower people to take charge of their own health, we need to foster a "self-health" culture in which people can easily comprehend their own health and well-being. This necessitates controlled information, user accessibility, and simplicity – and, in order to be sustainable, this must be a nearly automated solution that saves the NHS both time and money.
Our self-health kiosks, which enable individuals to access and comprehend a number of fundamental health indicators, are a vital enabler of self-health culture, putting our physical and mental well-being in our own hands in many ways. We believe that in order to fully take responsibility for our own health and well-being, we must be provided access to knowledge and the ability to comprehend it.
If you are a healthcare clinician or a practice manager that would like to see our self-assessment health kiosk in action, then we'd be happy to arrange a free no obligation online demo for you - contact us by email on hello@ekinteractive.co.uk or call 01223 812737.