Ecological Healthcare

Hans Rosling on 200 Years that Changed the World (

Yes, but why has the world changed so much in the last two centuries?  If one views the world through an energy lens, the answer is quickly apparent? Is our amazing improvement in health a result of technological exceptionalism or a function of fossil fuel related improvements in public health and complexity?

TRFriedenApril 2010, 100(4)Am Jo Public Health

Logan 1998

Does what we have work now, and is it fair? How much of our current complexity in healthcare is supportable with waning levels of fossil fuel support? Can we continue to add to the current complexity with more layers of administration and bureaucracy in a setting of waning energy inputs?

A contracting economy will not support the current level of healthcare complexity, not to mention current proposals for expansions in complexity due to computerization of records, new incremental policy additions adding to complexity, and added fragmentation due to even more specialization. The future will consist of generalists relocalized to communities, with more home care and less hospitals. Medical ethics could be replaced by a utilitarian focus on community health. Lifestyles with less fossil fuels may result eventually in less chronic illness due to addictions, stress, obesity, inactivity, and lack of community support.

In the short-term, however, impacts of a weak economy, burgeoning pollution, and changing lifestyles for a population in overshoot may be harmful to the health of the population.

Healthcare for All in the U.S?