Time to Shift Mindset
Looking at Preventative Health and the Environment as One Entity.
Two of the biggest challenges facing humankind are the health of people and health of the environment. The approach to tackle these has commonly been segmented. My experience as an Investor at Good Company, personal trainer and Environmental Studies Masters student has spurred my fascination at the interplay between environmental and health problems and am motivated to find solutions to tackle both.
My mindset has shifted and I strongly believe “we” (the public, investors, business) need to edit our thinking to see these issues as codependent, enabling our ability to come up with more impactful solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.
The Problem with Segmenting Problems
As a trainer, when clients ask me how to be “healthier” (physically healthier, lose weight more toned), they usually ask where to start and what is the most important, either exercise (how much and how intense) or diet (how much and what to eat). It is not uncommon to approach problem solving in a segmented way — looking at multiple issues in parallel, defining them, and then finding the most influential causes and working to solve them.
Other examples of this mindset can be found, such as the long debated impact of nature (biological/genetic predispositions’) versus nurture (influences from one’s environment) particularly influencing human ability to learn, and its influence on mental or physical disorders (p.s. go watch Three Identical Strangers on Netflix if you haven’t!).
The problem with segmentation is that the idea is to identify strong differentials, even if they are trivial. This causes us to jump to conclusions and define characteristics of segments and build strategies and tactics based on these insights.
A Shift in Mindset
Over time this mindset has started to shift to let down the barriers of trying to define and segment everything — and progress has been seen. The nature-nurture debate is declared to be ‘a false dichotomy’ and that nature and nurture interact to affect behaviour through complex ways and that genes can create the environment to which they are exposed .
In terms of health and the environment, the WHO has been leading the charge for this change in mindset, understanding the environmental threats responsible for the global burden of disease (about 13 million deaths every year). Their work on monitoring and reporting environmental and health trends has made major contributions to help achieve many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as mortality from environmental risks, drinking-water, sanitation and air pollution.
“24% of all global deaths are linked to the environment, which is roughly 13.7 million deaths a year.” WHO (2018)
Putting Words into Action
“We” (the public, investors, business) need to faster onboard this approach and start to think about health, behavior and the environments around us and how company products and services can influence those environments, our behavior and overall well being.
For me, actions speak louder than words. Also, there is no better way to test a method than to try it.
Recently, I was lucky enough to work on a research project for my M.A. at Tel Aviv University, with two forward-thinking Israeli companies, Waycare and Climacell to look at the impact of car crashes on short-term air quality, at a busy Interstate Highway and Intersection in Las Vegas.
It is well known that air pollution is one of the most important causes of serious human health problems including cardiovascular disease, respiratory illnesses and cancer (WHO, 2005) and causes 6.5 million deaths annually, presenting the single greatest environmental threat to health.
The impact of air quality on human health has been increasingly brought to light with its relationship with COVID-19. Studies have shown a relationship between air pollution and COVID-19 which suggests air pollution has significantly worsened the COVID-19 outbreak than if skies were pollution-free. In turn, NASA Earth Observatory observed reductions in pollutants in the air, such as NO2, during times of economic slowdown.
We found a significant positive correlation between crashes and an increase in air pollutants (Sulfur Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulate Matter PM2.5 and PM10) when looking at “before crash” and “after crash” scenarios. The analysis is meaningful. It shows not only the obvious need to reduce the risk of potential road injuries and deaths from crashes but shows prevention measures can also improve short-term Air Quality, minimizing health and environmental problems associated with air pollution exposure.
The environment and human health can thrive together; we can help this process. For example, Climacell is working on project with SupPlant that helps farms optimize their water usage, which, not only enhances food security but also safeguards farmers income and livelihoods.
As we start to tackle the challenges of environmental and human health from both sides, we can help save the future of ourselves and our planet. We need to start looking at Preventative Health measures as a tactical approach and Environmental Safeguarding as the strategy.
If you are aligned and think we should connect, please contact me through LinkedIn. I would love to hear from you.
