As a true positive #ChangeAgent, Dr. Somova Stout embodies all that the People-Centered Internet strives for as a coalition. Whereas most doctors treat one patient at a time, she has a far more ambitious aim, and that is to heal millions of people before they get even set a foot in the surgery, according to an article on her unique set of approaches, in a recent edition of U.S. News & World Development.
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By Steve Sternberg
Dr. Stout, the leader of the 100 Million Healthier Lives Initiative, believes collaboration is key to healthy change for communities. The 100 Million Healthier Lives initiative is designed to improve the health and well-being of one hundred million people by 2020, and it was launched in 2014 as a resource for those in health care grappling with mandates to keep costs down by keeping people healthy and providing more care in the community.
Dr Stout views communities in much the same way as a primary care doctor in the sense that she frets about her patient’s diets, and whether they are exercising enough, or competently managing stress.
Of challenges, “The big one”, she says is “shifting culture and mind-set, and using storytelling as a strategy to create culture change”.
“We want to create a culture of partnership, develop leaders at every level, engage students and youth leaders, and always work at the community level”.
100 Million Lives started with 35 partners reaching 35 million people around the country. It has quickly grown over three and a half years to a network of 1,800 partners and members, with a reach that extends to well over 500 million people in 30 countries.
As a result of Dr Stout’s efforts, all are committed to shifting the way people think and act, to achieve population health and equity.
Read the article in full here.
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