Most mainstream health systems focus on 2 levels of intervention:
- Encourage a healthy lifestyle (diet, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, avoiding toxic exposures, etc.)
- Treat pathological health conditions with drugs or surgery.
But as Len Saputo has outlined in A Return to Healing (see page 230), a more expansive model of health care is possible.
Between these 2 levels of intervention, there are other kinds of treatments that we believe have an enormous potential to prevent pathologies, avoid expensive treatments, and increase human well-being and productivity. The “holistic” healing disciplines—such as naturopathy, acupuncture, homeopathy and chiropractic—can increase a person’s resilience and promote vibrant health. When a person is in vibrant health, they have greater capacity to recover from new traumas, infections, injuries or toxic exposures without descending into the crisis of a pathological health condition.
As the Zebrin Foundation supports data collection, research, and training in these holistic healing disciplines, we participate in building an expansive model of healthcare for a world in which all people cherish and protect the human birthright to vibrant health.