We don’t need more information
I has been estimated that the total amount of data created and consumed globally each day is 149 zettabytes (1). I had to look up how much a zettabyte was and that’s more than the duration of every single movie ever made! If we break that down to the individual level, a 2012 study showed that the Average American in 2008 was consuming 34gb of data per day (2). With an increase of 5.4% per year and maybe even more, we’re looking at around 70gb of daily information consumption today. And when research shows us that information overload hinders our decision-making ability (3), I think it’s fair to say that we don’t need more of it.
This is particularly important when it comes to health. Over the past few years, we have seen an explosion in health-related information on the internet and this is great for democratising knowledge. Equally, public service efforts to increase health literacy today is to focus on getting as much information out as possible. And to make it inclusive, the approach is often to print leaflets in different languages. But, it takes more than that to break through the noise because information alone, does not drive behaviour.
What we need is:
Information that is presented in an accessible and meaningful form (including videos, in-person health promotion events, story-telling, culturally-appropriate)
The ability to filter and make decisions with the information we have to then take helpful action.
Understanding our why as an individual, friends, family or as a community
Increasingly, I’m seeing more and more people saying “I don’t need more information...” or “I know what I need to do, but…”. So what’s the block?
Models of health behaviour change describe the various stages people may be at when considering lifestyle modification e.g. stopping smoking, dietary changes etc. An example of this is when I met a young first-time father in clinic explaining that he really wanted to change his pre-diabetes blood test marker as he wanted to be healthy for his newborn son. There’s a clear motive in mind and we often see that certain life events or milestones tend to be behind this.
But, we need to start before the person enters the clinic room. Unless information is speaking to a person’s core values, they won’t absorb it. So it’s about our delivery of information at a community level as much as the information itself then.
Restaurant companies, clothing outlets, perfume brands etc. have worked this out to a tee. They speak directly to people’s feelings of desire, insecurities, family values, or sense of achievement. The difference is that with behaviours that can improve our health, the outcome is not clearly visible or at least not straight away. Using analogies, reminding someone of their why, future predicting, these can all help. But, something I see come up time and time again is not the lack of understanding, it’s the difficulty in introducing a new activity either because of time, finances or other restrictions because humans are multi-layered.
One of the beauties of Ayurveda is that it’s a great tool for helping us to discern between what will nourish us and what will deplete us. This is not just for food but for everyday activities, our approach to managing in different seasons, movement, rest, really everything! And it’s beautifully simplistic once we learn it. With all the latest fad diets and trends appearing and disappearing, the Ayurvedic approach has stood the test of time as it teaches universal laws of nature but in a personalised way. I have written about this before but I believe that Ayurveda makes a truly accessible and affordable primary health care service.
Through having a better understanding of what our unique mind-body needs for stability, we are better equipped to weather the changing waves that each day brings. Add to that the ease of applying it in daily life – it doesn’t ask for expensive gadgets, supplements or gym memberships. In fact, in most cases, we can use what we already have at home, in our kitchen or in our surrounding nature. This reduces the friction that many people experience when starting out with a health plan.
People need to feel that you get them and they need to feel understood. But, they also need to see themselves in a particular situation or scenario and see that what’s being suggested is a feasible option. This is not a one-off chat but behaviour change is an ongoing process. In fact, Ayurveda would say there is no fixed state anyway as our needs and routines adapt with each day or season to maintain a balance.
In a sea of information coming at us from all directions, when it comes to health, I see Ayurveda as a practice that clears up the fog and gives us a map.
References:
Statista (2024) Volume of data/information created, captured, copied, and consumed worldwide from 2010 to 2023, with forecasts from 2024 to 2028 https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created
Bohn & Short (2012) Measuring consumer information. International Journal of Communications, 6
Peng et al. (2021) How does information overload affect consumers’ online decision process? An event-related potentials study. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15