Oral Health Forum Keynote Address

Dr. Therman Evans

After battling severe weather and employing multiple modes of transportation–an airplane, a train, a bus and a taxi–Dr. Evans arrived in Washington 17 hours later. For the Forum participants, Dr. Evans' efforts were truly appreciated. He delivered an inspiring and thought provoking keynote address to an audience of 120 participants, each of whom had also braved the elements to attend. His central theme was that to truly address the problems of how health care is delivered today–including oral health care–we must take a holistic approach to creating health and wellness in human beings. We also must be willing to change.

Dr. Evans reminded the audience of the role that humor plays in keeping our perspective through challenging times and in developing creative solutions to difficult problems. He told us of how Einstein valued humor and imagination. In fact, imagination requires humor: humor leads to laughter, which promotes relaxation, which enhances imagination, which leads to creativity, which stimulates productivity, which strengthens security, which makes one more able to laugh. The more humor in one's life, the more creative one can be. And as Dr. Evans pointed out, being uptight and defensive has not solved our health care problems yet, so we might as well relax–it just may help us develop the creative solutions we need to address the intractable problems facing our health care system!

If Forum participants remembered one thing from Dr. Evans address, it was likely to be the concept that "all things are related." To address oral health, we must look at the overall health of a person. Similarly, to address the problems of our health care system, we must look at the whole system of delivery–not just the medical solutions. In many cases, we have had the medical solutions to health problems, yet we have not been successful in bringing the solutions to the people because we have not been looking at the whole system–or the whole person. While we have continued to advance in technologies, we still do not understand the basics of dealing with human beings. To do this in any meaningful way, we are going to have to change the way health care is taught and the way it is delivered.

Dr. Evans talked about how we must begin to look at health care, including oral health care, from a positive frame of reference. We need to move away from the traditional medical school training of seeing patients as only the diseased organ or set of symptoms they present, and toward seeing each person as a whole human being. The human condition is one of spirit, mind, and body. If we do not learn to address all three aspects of a person, we will never have an effective and efficient health care system.

Dr. Evans emphasized in his address that access to health care is not just a function of available expertise and close geographic proximity. If that was the case, those in lower income neighborhoods surrounding urban medical centers should be some of the healthiest people in the community. Access is also affected by human factors such as whether people feel welcome or valued. People do not need to be highly educated to have an innate ability to read body language, and they can clearly read the signs of not being welcome or valued. We must teach our health care professionals to set aside their discomfort and learn to connect with people. They must learn to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable as they work with people who do not look like them, act like them, or speak like them. Until we learn to do that, all the medical solutions or medical credentials in the world will not do what they are created to do. Ultimately, Dr. Evans contended, degrees do not mean much if you cannot connect to another human being.

Just as we need to look at the individual holistically, we must also look at the system of health and wellness care holistically. Each part is unique and critical to the functioning of the whole. Oral health, for example, is critical to and dependent upon general health. Dentistry is critical to and dependent upon general medicine, nutrition, and cultural norms. We must learn to understand and value each component of the whole. We must learn to partner, collaborate, and connect as individuals and organizations to create a truly effective, efficient system for health, healing,and wellness.

We also must learn to become more comfortable with change. Human beings, Dr. Evans reminded us, do not like change–especially when they have a vested interest in the status quo, as do many health professionals. However, if we want to address the problems in the health care system, we all must be willing to change. We must expect that change will bring pain, yet once we get past the pain and effort, we will have the kind of health care system and, more importantly, health outcomes, that we can now only imagine. Like delivering a baby, the pain is necessary and the new life it brings is its own reward.

 

Therman Evans, M.D.

Dr. Therman Evans, founder and CEO of WholeLife Associates, Inc., is the former Vice-president and Corporate Medical Director of the CIGNA Corporation, one of the world's largest health care companies. He has served as Chairman of the Mayor's City Wide Commission on the Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy in Philadelphia; as a member of the Board of Directors for The Wellness Council of America as well as on other boards; as a member of the Advisory Panel of the National Association of Health Service Executives; and as President of the Washington, D.C. Board of Education. He has published over 24 articles in various health journals and newspapers, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Los Angeles Times, Ebony and Collegiate magazines. Dr. Evans is the author of five booklets called "Prescriptions", the host of a radio show called "Lifeline" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a pastor.

Dr. Evans, known as "Mr. Inspiration," is one of the most exciting and dynamic motivational presenters in this country and abroad. He addresses wellness (inclusive of fitness and nutrition), diversity, and stress and change management.