Introduction
In the 2006 Radical Listening meetings that ASRI carried out, accessible and affordable health care was the greatest need communities expressed and the biggest barrier they had to conserving the rainforest. The ASRI Medical Center was founded in 2007 with official support from the regional health department in order to reach the organization’s vision – a healthy world community, where people are able to conserve forests, ecosystems, and water sources. ASRI is short for Alam Sehat Lestari, which means ‘healthy nature everlasting’ – the acronym, ASRI, itself means ‘beautiful’. By leveraging health care as a valuable resource, ASRI has developed strong relationships with its partner communities. Together, they developed programs that reflect both ASRI’s conservation mission, and the needs of the individual communities.
ASRI provides quality care by treating not only the symptoms, but also the root causes of health challenges. ASRI’s doctors understand their patients’ medical and personal histories, and ensure that patients understand their illness from cause, to diagnosis, to treatment. As a growing medical center, the facilities and resources to treat all patients are not always available. Sometimes patients need a treatment that ASRI cannot provide, but they cannot afford the treatment at another facility. ASRI is working to increase the number of services available for patients to meet their needs in a way they can afford without logging.
Learning Objective
To understand how ASRI provides healthcare, and how the healthcare system can support conservation efforts
Planetary Health Principles (Canmore Declaration):
The sustainable vitality of all systems
Biopsychosocial interdependence
Considering healthcare from a planetary health perspective means recognizing that our health and wellbeing are dependent on the natural environment around us. Yet, this might not necessarily be reflected in your personal practice of and/or experience with healthcare. As such, let us reflect on how we can better integrate this principle into our lives and professions.
Planetary Health Principle: Systems Thinking and Interdisciplinary Collaborations (The Lancet)
Transformative solutions to planetary health challenges are developed by collaborating across disciplines. ‘The different programs at ASRI reflect the need to consider both the natural and social systems that contribute to human health outcomes.
The broad scope of planetary health calls for all of us to work together. To create solutions, we need to communicate across boundaries and analyze challenges comprehensively. You will collaborate with colleagues from a variety of fields including medicine, ecology, and business.