Coregulation Informed Healthcare
Summary: Doctors, Nurses & other healthcare providers are often not fully prepared to help patients affected by Community Disconnection, a widespread psychosocial public health threat that can sabotage the treatment & recovery process. Many Healthcare practitioners describe cases where patients who are socially isolated struggle & spiral downward, whereas patients with robust social support enjoy a successful recovery. This article recommends healthcare providers 1) be informed about Community Disconnection, 2) adopt protocols to identify patients at-risk, 3) learn how Coregulation, an effective remedy for Disconnection, can be applied in a clinical setting to stop detrimental effects of Community Disconnection from undermining optimal recovery. Short term training & research based resources are recommended to assure a “Coregulation Informed” practice.
A few years ago, our public health research team was looking into reasons why American society seems to be coming unhinged in so many ways. Multiple symptoms of an unhealthy society are getting worse:
Depression, anxiety & addiction
Chronic illness
Suicide rates
Mass shootings & school gun violence
Rising healthcare costs with more undesirable outcomes
This certainly isn’t a complete list of growing social ills, but these alone have been enough to cause life expectancy in the U.S. to decline for the first time in over 100 years, even before the arrival of COVID.
The complexity of our modern world brings more convenience, but at a cost of more human stress. Technology & social media have changed how we interact with each other, & Earth’s deteriorating environment brings us face-to-face with the possibility of our own extinction in the foreseeable future.
The answer to why society seems to be unraveling is complicated. But it’s affecting the physical & mental health of many people of all ages. Our research took us down many paths, speaking with educators, students, doctors, patients & others in all walks of life.
Our research was presented at the 2021 American Psychiatric Association conference, documenting how Community Disconnection has become widespread, harming human physical & psychological health, leading to higher morbidity, mortality risk & suicide within communities & among individuals, ultimately affecting healthcare costs, provider Performance & treatment outcomes.
Generally speaking, we came to these conclusions.
Community Disconnection:
Has increased dramatically over recent years & is fueling a global epidemic, especially in younger generations & seniors, causing increases in certain illnesses & suicides. U.S. life expectancy is declining for the first time in more than a century, even before COVID.
Is caused by a combination of social, psychological & physical factors that dysregulate Polyvagal nerves & the autonomic nervous system (ANS), making people vulnerable to illness & less responsive to health treatments.
Is triggered by what happens to you, but caused by how you react to what happens to you. All humans experience disconnections in life - from Nature, Family, Self, Work, School & Community - but most of the time we recover. Not every disconnection dysregulates the autonomic nervous system & causes health problems.
Coregulation:
Is the “active ingredient” of psychotherapy & an effective remedy for Community Disconnection
Is a method of human interaction that restores coherence to the Polyvagal Nervous system, an effective way to protect against Community Disconnection
Is accessible to almost everyone for little or no cost. All that’s required is to learn how to do it and find one or more Partners.
How can healthcare groups adapt to this toxic climate, with increases in certain illnesses & rising rates of suicide, including close to a doubling of suicide rates in doctors & healthcare professionals, causing U.S. life expectancy to decline for the first time in over a century?
One of our goals is to inform healthcare professionals about the threat of Community Disconnection & how to use Applied Coregulation in the healthcare delivery process to improve treatment outcomes.
Specific, inexpensive adjustments to the healthcare delivery process can improve quality of care, treatment outcomes & cost effectiveness, preventing sabotage of treatment by Community Disconnection. Making a healthcare practice “Coregulation Informed” by teaching leadership, staff & patients about Community Disconnection & the remedy, Coregulation, is a practical, cost effective way to improve treatment outcomes in patients compromised by Community Disconnection.
The “informed community” approach has been shown to be effective with trauma. (Informing a community about Trauma reduces trauma related problems).
Recommendations
Learn the art of Applied Coregulation to help patients compromised by Community Disconnection
Get training necessary to make your core team members “Coregulation Informed”
Resources
Training
Coregulationhealth.org
Applied Coregulation training for healthcare providers, educators, organizations, teams & individuals
Research
Seylani, Allen; Croucier, Jeremy, A qualitative exploration of disconnection in healthcare and the efficacy of remote co-regulation training among healthcare workers and patients, Journal of Social Health Education, 2020 (Presented at the 2021 annual conference of the American Psychiatric Association)
Books
Lost Connections, Johann Hari, Bloomsbury, New York, 2018
The pocket guide to the polyvagal theory: the transformative power of feeling safe. Stephen Porges, New York, New York: Norton, 2017.
The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy, Deb Dana, W.W. Norton, 2018