Reform health and healthcare

How to improve health and health care with the Meta-Problem Method

Treat the whole human

Improving healthcare with limited resources means balancing individual and societal needs, while treating physical and mental health as tightly linked topics. The latter is one of the best opportunities to improve our current health systems.

Individual and societal health decisions are intertwined. Add in government or corporate choices which can promote or diminish peoples’ health, and you have a recipe for complexity, confusion, higher costs and worse outcomes.

The question is which problem (or cluster of problems) should we choose to solve? Which will give us the best bang for our buck? The Meta-Problem Method is designed to help.

Using the method is about choosing the best problem to solve, but only after you’ve defined the goals you care about, explored your many options, and weighed the trade-offs. To learn more about the Meta-Problem Method, click here.

The importance of individual choice

Depending on your circumstances you might be facing choices about your own individual health, supporting people around you, or changing the health care system.

Health decisions are deeply personal. Any system we design needs to honor those choices and individual needs.

This is part of the challenge created by separating how we treat physical and mental health. Individuals often use up their limited resources fighting battles, some inside themselves, some external, leaving little energy for the rest of their needs.

A system that supports good individual decisions will improve overall health.

Questions to ask yourself

How can a limited number of doctors, nurses, hospitals and supplies best serve a population of patients in need? How do we weigh the trade-offs between allowing same-day visits and delaying scheduled visits?

What is the right population of medical professionals to serve patient needs? How can we create an environment where the right number of people choose a career in healthcare?

How do we balance the costs with the benefits? How can we measure progress?

A dollar spent in one part of the world can have a dramatically larger impact than in other regions. How do we design a system that reflects our values while serving all needs?

What am I willing and able to do? How can I apply my skillset to this problem? Which options will provide the greatest return compared to the effort involved?

Choose an example below to learn more about the Meta-Problem Method and how it can help guide your choices.