Public health -- personal health

I've just re-read the Academy of Medical Sciences report "Improving the health of the public by 2040". It makes many insightful points, particularly about the need for multidisciplinary training to deliver future professionals who can work across disciplinary silos – whether within healthcare and medical disciplines or with other disciplines such as computing and other branches of engineering. Also, the likely importance of digital tools and "big data" in the future. It does, however, focus entirely on the population, apparently ignoring the fact that the population is made up of individuals, who each control their own health – at least to the extent that they can choose to comply (or adhere) with medical advice and can choose whether or not to share data about themselves. It seems to miss a big opportunity if we don't link the individual to the population because the health outcomes and practices of the population emerge from the individual behaviours of each person. Sure, the behaviours of individuals are shaped by population-level factors, but they aren't determined by them. It's surely time to link the individual and the population better.


This can be compared with the Wachter Review, which focused on the value of electronic health records and other digital technologies for delivering safer and more effective care. That review also highlighted the need for professionals with skills that cross information technologies and clinical expertise, but it also considers issues such as engagement and usability. It notes that "implementing health IT is one of the most complex adaptive changes in the history of healthcare". Without addressing the complexity (which is a consequence of the number of individuals, roles, organisations and cultures involved), it's going to be difficult to achieve population-level improvements – by 2040, or at any time.