1. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH: One’s social determinants of health have an incredible impact on one’s risk of dysfunction. And when we look at how social determinants directly and profusely influence health trajectories, we can see that lifestyle factors (antecedents/triggers/mediators) play a key role in the development of this risk of dysfunction.
2. ACCESS TO FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE: Access to functional medicine practitioners, in an insurance-based model, is a common limiting factor. There may also tends to be limited availability of practitioners and limited awareness of functional medicine at large. Functional medicine consults may involve fancy and innovative (but costly) testing and interventions with a long list of supplements. Consequently, the cost-perception of functional medicine care can prevent patients from seeking these services.
3. POOR HEALTH LITERACY (especially from the practitioner to patient): Transparency and digestibility of information is in short supply – We have the world at our fingertips, but with that, we’re in the age of information fatigue and muddy, inconsistent “truths”. It’s easy to get lost in the layers of complicated and conflicting messaging, especially when it comes to nutrition and wellness. Information is often posed as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. This dichotomy is how we learn to interpret the world…but how do we get comfortable in the “grey”?
4. EXPECTING A ‘QUICK FIX’: We live in an age where we yearn for instant gratification. We prioritize productivity. This level of productivity has entered the health and wellness space, too. While prioritizing health is trending now more than ever, most still crave a quick fix.
When considering these barriers, it becomes clear that increasing access, promoting health literacy and focusing on long-term lifestyle changes are all at the core. It’s important that you start somewhere…that you find where you can impactfully make change in your daily life. This is where the Foundational Pillars come to play.