Now that those creative juices are flowing, let’s work on the Healthcare system in this country. Since I work in the holistic health field, this is a problem that is near and dear to my heart. This time let’s work with metaphors. Make up a story or find an existing metaphor for the current situation of healthcare in the U.S.
What if you chose the fable, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” as your metaphor? I heard of a motivational speaker who gives talks to physicians. He likes to keep them waiting for 20-40 minutes, and then walks in and says, “How did you feel about me keeping you waiting? How do you think your patients feel when you do it to them?”
What metaphor would you use to describe the Insurance component of healthcare? I think of those phone systems where you keep punching numbers but you never talk to a human. There’s also a great movie, called The Rainmaker, that perfectly depicts my vision of insurance companies in America.
The pharamaceutical component? Letting foxes watch the henhouse is what I normally say.
How could you rewrite the stories to have happy endings? Then how do you translate that into changes for the industry?
In allopathic medicine, the paradigm is based on the “disease” model of health, strangely enough? What metaphors are like “the disease” model?
In the holistic world, we operate on the premise that “the client is responsible for their own health. We are here to assist them.” What metaphor is that like? I usually use: I’m here to teach you to fish, not to fish for you. As a hypnotist, I usually tell people, I’m like a cross between a computer reprogrammer and a coach.
Is there anything about the current health care model that you do like? How can we make that part better? If you like the holistic model, as I do, how can it become more prevalent in this country? (Currently, people now spend more on natural and holistic medicine than on allopathic approaches in the U.S.)
Then you could look at the three components together: doctos, pharmaceuticals, and insurance. Watch the movie, “Prescription for Disaster” if you want a clear view of the problem.
Then share your ideas with us.