A step in the right direction

The health care system in the US relies largely on a "disease model," where the essential message is "bring in what's wrong with your body, and your doctor will try to fix it." This is an incomplete picture of health at best, since it largely ignores relational and environmental issues. It is also an entirely wrong way to encourage more proactive steps toward a healthy, happy life.

So I'm glad to see the World Health Organization is working on an International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. It's a classification system that gives as much weight to activities and environmental factors as it does to the body itself in developing a picture of functioning. It's a way of examining the whole person in their environment.

Imagine that.