Authored by Michael Stein and Sandro Galea
“The United States spends an inordinate amount of money on health care. Much of this spending goes to data acquisition, to medical monitoring, and to assessment of how our health systems function. But are there other areas where money devoted to gathering health data might be better spent?
Our health is a product of the world around us. This is perhaps most easily understood by thinking about how much time we spend in the various places where we live, work, and gather.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics offer a picture of these places. Out of 8,736 hours in a year, we spend more than half, or about 4,566, at home. We spend 1,893 hours in our workplaces or 1,198 at school. We spend 93 hours in places of worship. Far down the list, at 15 hours a year, are interactions with the health care delivery system.”
Read the full piece on Oxford University Press Blog.
Photo by Christine Morillo from Pexels