Ben Miller is the chief strategy officer for Well Being Trust, a national foundation advancing the mental, social, and spiritual health of the nation. Ben joins Grant to discuss the importance of a holistic approach to health and the challenges facing those with mental health issues as they navigate the tangled health delivery system. Together, they explore ever-rising health care costs, an emerging definition of spiritual health, and the ongoing effects of the pandemic on mental health.
- Expanding the definition of health 
- Who wouldn’t want to flourish? 
- JFK de-institutionalized mental health: the origin story for fragmentation 
- More money for a failing system is not the answer 
- Structural impediments to care 
- Mental health is foundational 
- Impact philanthropy: making a difference; advancing mental health 
- The business side of health care: co-opting of health by the “wealth-care” system 
- “If it’s not working, stop doing it.” 
- Ongoing healthcare crisis: market prices keep rising 
- Providers fear reform 
- Spiritual health for the Nones 
- “Remix religions”: new spiritual expressions by young Americans 
- COVID-19 and deaths of despair 
- Isolation vs loneliness 
- Teachers are on the frontline of the pandemic, and we’re to blame 
- Suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility 
- Social media and the fundamental need to connect 
Links:
Philanthropic Funding Makes Waves in Basic Science
California’s health care paradox
Biden signs executive order to reopen Affordable Care Act enrollment
Bennet, Kaine Introduce Medicare-X Choice Act to Achieve Universal Health Care
Strange Rites by Tara Isabella Burton
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents
It’s Time to Invest in Better Health and Well-Being for Teens
California Program Giving $500 No-Strings-Attached Stipends Pays Off, Study Finds

