My User Manual (MUM) consists of a ring binder for every child attending school.
Pages and Chapters can be easily added or updated.
The Goal of MUM
The goal of MUM is to improve the health and well-being of the whole population through Preventative Healthcare.
The School Years
As soon as a schoolchild is literate and numerate enough to understand concepts such as their weight and height, they add their personal data to the Appendix of their personal copy of “My User Manual”. Personal data relating to their health is added to this Appendix, throughout their education.
The main body of the book consists of chapters which are only a few pages long, with links to in-depth information on the Health Ministry website.
Important chapters deal with how the stomach functions, diet, exercise, allergies, stress, the need for sleep, anatomy, physiology, hormones, sex education, and emotional and psychological factors.
As the child progresses through school, earlier chapters, with simple introductions to the various topics, are replaced with more in-depth information, to present the concept of how the physical, emotional and mental elements work together in harmony, and what can happen if they do not.
Obesity
After the School Years
If a person is health conscious, he or she may wish to continue with their log, adding heart rate, blood pressure, diet, BMI (Body Mass Index) and exercise data to the height and weight basic data that they recorded throughout their school years.
The person could also use an app which will give an obesity or heart attack risk alert, and suggest corrective actions for lifestyle changes without recourse to, and well in advance of, the need for any medical intervention.
Helping the Doctor
The health log will help the doctor decide if the person’s state is “normal”, based on his previous history, or “pathological”, therefore requiring remedial treatment. The health log can also open up the opportunity for a meaningful dialogue between doctor and patient.
Data Protection
All the data of the individual is protected, because he has written his personal data is on a single sheet of paper, which he has total control over. If he wishes to share any of the data with a national or private medical organisation, then he, and only he, can decide to do so.
Conclusion
Benefits for the Individual
The individual benefits because he feels more in control of some of the factors affecting his or her health.
Benefits for the Country
Implementing the MUM Project will result be big savings in Health System costs through Preventative Healthcare.
Empowering people to make lifestyle changes by giving them the tools to help maintain their own health, and to prevent illness, will benefit everybody.