Publication details
Od znalosti k akci – Jak překonat překážky na cestě k efektivní prevenci
| Title in English | From Knowledge to Action: Overcoming Obstacles to Effective Prevention |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Contemporary medicine faces challenges presented by what are often called the "four horsemen of the apocalypse": cardiovascular and oncological diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and metabolic dysfunctions including diabetes. These diseases form the core of public health issues and are significantly influenced by prevention. Timely intervention is also essential to overcoming the personnel and economic limitations of modern medicine. Despite having ample information on health-promoting behaviors—regular exercise, adequate sleep, a balanced diet, limiting alcohol and smoking, along with effective stress management—we continue to see a rising number of diseases whose onset could be delayed by decades, modify the course of existing illnesses, or even slow down or cure them through lifestyle medicine interventions. Thus, we witness a widespread phenomenon that could provisionally be described as a divide between knowledge and action. As a society and as individuals, we understand what is right, yet we struggle to implement adequate and lasting changes. So, what are we missing? What should we, as healthcare professionals, learn to foster health-promoting behaviors and strengthen motivation in our current and future patients? What skills do we also need to develop as potential patients to act in accordance with our knowledge and the advice we give others? These questions inevitably lead us to discussions about public health concepts, the level of preventive medicine education, its place in the healthcare education process, and how we as professionals advocate for evidence-based facts. Undoubtedly, you would agree that advice like "exercise more, don't smoke, and avoid stress," often heard from doctors, might not best reflect our current understanding of human motivation and health psychology. |