Vicious and Virtuous Cycles in Health

Abstract

This JAMA Forum discusses how physicians and health professionals can help patients by intervening when they observe harmful cycles in health and by encouraging virtuous or health-promoting cycles.

Addressing Clinician Burnout: A Unifying Systems Medicine Model with Meditation as a Heart-Mind Intervention

“…In JAMA Health Forum , Chokshi described mental models as simplified but profound ways to understand how the world (in this case, of health) works. [ 70 ] A model is a conceptual framework to interpret and act within the world. As described above in Section 9, there is growing recognition of the limitations of the traditional reductionist model of health.…”

Cities as Platforms for Population Health: Past, Present, and Future

“…151 Returning to the "vital conditions" framework, these financing mechanisms capitalize on the notion that meaningful investments in vital conditions reduce the demand for expensive "urgent services" (e.g., acute care for illness or injury, unemployment and food assistance, crime response, homeless services), enabling a self-reinforcing cycle of continued investment (Figure 2). 107,152 More fundamental structural changes to public funding sources have more promise. For example, the US Department of Health and Human Services Public Health 3.0 initiative called for structured, crosssector partnerships at the community level, enabled by the blending and braiding of funding sources across health care and social services to ensure that savings are captured and reinvested over time.…”

“…Returning to the “vital conditions” framework, these financing mechanisms capitalize on the notion that meaningful investments in vital conditions reduce the demand for expensive “urgent services” (e.g., acute care for illness or injury, unemployment and food assistance, crime response, homeless services), enabling a self‐reinforcing cycle of continued investment (Figure 2). 107,152 …”