Should we bribe people to be healthy?
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Should we bribe people to be healthy?
Discuss non-medical topics
This is the title of an interesting lecture-discussion recently by Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, who explores the idea of incentivising good health. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01
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Should we bribe people to be healthy?
posted at 18/4/2012 1:52 PM BST
on bmj.com
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*Moderator*
Posts: 1496
First: 7/4/2011 Last: 19/6/2013 |
This is the title of an interesting lecture-discussion recently by Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, who explores the idea of incentivising good health. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g5ztq Also - I saw a news article about nurses saying that overweight people should be given lottery tickets to stay off junk food. They also suggest gym memberships and cheap subscriptions to slimming clubs or even cash bonuses for being healthy. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/new-incentive-to-lose-a-lotto-weight-797044 Perhaps making it easier for people to lose weight (joining gyms and slimming clubs) are a good idea, but cash incentives are effectively bribes and I'm not sure how sustainable this is. How can this healthy behaviour be continually funded and would we be motivating people to be healthy for the wrong reasons? |
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Re: Should we bribe people to be healthy?
posted at 19/4/2012 3:14 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3007
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 19/6/2013 |
In Ancient China, the doctor was paid when the patient was well and payment stopped when they became ill. Our Dept of Veterans' Affairs pays for gymnasium membership for veterans and this seems to be cost effective.
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Re: Should we bribe people to be healthy?
posted at 29/4/2012 6:48 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 20
First: 17/10/2009 Last: 29/5/2013 |
We have 186 employees..our a multi speciality Ortho pedic center. So lately we have started a clinic for the employees who loose the most weight. Anybody can join. All are weighed the last friday of the quater...whoever lost the most--percentage wise--- gets $100 prize money. Guess who are the front runners...post-partum women...It has been so succesful, that now our 6 storey elevators are empty for the patients. During lunch -time we hear our staff busy going up & down the 120 stairs we have, Bravo! We plan do extend the programe for our regular Fat patients--especially those going for Total knee and Hip surgeries and Back surgeries..How?..we're working on it..Prize---? $100...too... Any comments will be appreciated.. |
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Re: Should we bribe people to be healthy?
posted at 30/4/2012 8:59 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2136
First: 12/3/2010 Last: 19/6/2013 |
Bribes can be negative, if there are penalties. Yesterday's Observer featured a recent poll on doctors.net that found more than half of responding doctors and a quarter of Trusts would or do refuse to treat non-emergencies in anyone who refuses to stop smoking or lose weight. http://www.doctors.net.uk/Forum/viewPost.aspx?LastViewed=1&forum_id=1&post_id=5313766 Some of the quoted comments are a way over the top against this attitude. For instance, the Chair of the RCGP says, "There was no medical justification for such restrictions on smokers, as giving up nicotine would not necessarily enhance an operation's chances of success." maybe she is quoted out of context, but I beg to differ, on the evidence that obesity and smoking both contribute significantly to the incidence of the complications of surgery. For instance, I don't work in one, but I know that bariatric surgery centres expect their patients to achieve a predetermined weight loss before they are accepted for surgery. This is neither arbitrary nor "pour encourager les autres" but because it has been shown to improve the success of surgery. John PS "Pour encourager les autres". Admiral Byng was court martialled and then shot for his conduct of the Battle of Minorca (1756 ) that gave victory to the French Navy qv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Minorca. Voltaire afterwards wrote that the English thought it wise, "to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others." |
