Blue Zones Project Blog

What is the value of making lives longer and healthier? Is living longer no matter what more valuable than staying healthy? How does the value of treating aging comprehensively compare to eradicating diseases specifically? These thoughtful questions were addressed using an economic model rather than the traditional biological model in a University of Oxford study, “The Economic Value of Targeting Aging,” and a McKinsey Health Institute paper entitled “Adding Years to Life and Life to Years.”

The month of May brings warmer temperatures and longer days as well as many delicious fresh fruits and vegetables at their peak. It’s no wonder then that May is also National Salad Month.

Over 70% of illnesses are caused by our own behaviors. Most everyone knows there is an association among heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension with high lipids (fats in the blood). Equally understandable is the concept that we are what we eat.

Rethinking Community Benefit Programs—A New Vision for Hospital Investment in Community Health, co-authored by Dr. Jay Bhatt, a friend and former Chief Medical Officer of the American Hospital Association (AHA), makes the case for healthcare systems to invest in the community outside their walls. Moving upstream from a “repair shop” to a “prevention program” will eliminate unnecessary misery, decrease cost, and ultimately save the healthcare industry from bankrupting itself and the nation.

If you are you interested in your life expectancy based on your location, place your ZIP code into Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s internet site. You can easily compare ZIP codes’ results if you are thinking of relocating.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are appropriately top-of-mind in America today, particularly for health professionals, governmental officials, influential leaders, and concerned others—all who have witnessed the disproportionate devastation of socio-economically disadvantaged populations from the pandemic as well as those who desire to eradicate systemic racism.

The word “selfish” carries a negative meaning which is appropriate in most respects. In the case of volunteerism, selfish is good! We’d like to think of volunteering as a selfless good deed, but at its core, we are being rewarded and know it.

Earlier this week, Pete Delgado, President and CEO of Salinas Valley Memorial Health System (SVMH), and Dr. Steve Packer, President and CEO of Montage Health, shared their success with almost a hundred senior healthcare executives at the annual American College of Healthcare Executives Congress.

If you hadn’t made the leap before, the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown aggressively shoved most everyone into the virtual world, whether it was by streaming movies at home instead of going to a theater, or buying dinner via a food delivery app. Some of these things will no doubt be ditched ASAP, but others will be permanently woven into our culture going forward. 

Understanding poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drug-addiction, or any other socio-economic stress was a topic addressed last week. How well would you survive in poverty is the subject of this week’s Blue Zones Bulletin. Ruby Payne’s “Understanding Poverty” quiz is revealing.