'It's not the misery of one's circumstances that creates the motivation for change, but realising the possibilities that will bring meaning back into our lives.'
Kathryn Alexander
About me...
Founder of Smart Patient® and Health Commons - WOW!
Back track four years to 2014, my 60th birthday waking to find 3 pairs of new shoes:
- a pair of plastic leopard print wellingtons;
- a pair of elastic rainbow sandals; and
- a pair of knitted love heart pink slippers - not quite my choice in footwear, but practical.
And I never buy practical!
But this heralded a new chapter in my journey
and a much bigger one than I had imagined.
My 20s
Rewinding to my 20s, a young student at the Royal Academy of Music,
studying piano and harp, becoming a mother of two and a world traveller.
My 40s
Fast forward to my early 40s - time for adventure and a move to Australia from the UK with Stephen, and two reluctant teenagers. At 43, with no work and plenty of spare time on my hands, I wrote and had published Get A Life, the detoxification diet made easy! Not skipping a beat, at 44 off to the US to explore deeper into using food as medicine, and qualified as a Gerson Therapist, developed their training, and taught and mentored practitioners all over the world, while supporting my clients with cancer choosing the Gerson Therapy, and continuing to develop my own Dietary Healing.
Late 40s - time to get some proper qualifications so I enrol as a student of Naturopathy with a good dose of Western and Eastern herbal medicine thrown in. Lots more teaching and training, helping people to manage their own health journey using my Dietary Healing principles.
My 30s
Settling down a bit in my 30s - time to get more serious, get my health in order and open up Pandora's box! At 32 I qualified as a Dietary Therapist, and so began my lifelong passion of diet, healing and helping others bring meaning back into their lives. Married Stephen - what a blessing - and I'd say Yes again today!
My 50s
Life through my 50s: becoming more complicated; too many claims, too many products and treatments and too many clients confused and struggling to make choices around what could work best for them. Time to start working on the Smart Patient® framework. At 53, reworked Get A Life and produced Dietary Healing, the complete detox program. Unable to get a publisher so I self-published and sold over 7,000 copies.
My 60s
My goodness I'm getting old!
Self-published Smart Patient Journey Road Map, increasing your odds for success and currently embracing the journey, rolling up my sleeves, working on the ground, researching, teaching and developing the program. Now, after 4 years of grounded research, I have just published Health Commons Ready Reckoner, Course Companion Guide for our new self-advocacy training.
Now for the crux - what's the real impetus?
- the frustration of working within a health system top-heavy with unvalidated claims;
- the possibility of realising a vision where we can collect and share the evidence of what works for the common good, from real people with real stories; and, most importantly,
- the privilege of witnessing, over a 30 year tireless trek, the results of human endeavour and the remarkable capacity of the human body to heal.
So here we are today, after 4 years of research, piloting the Smart Patient project - now known as Health Commons - a project which will do much more than help people stave off the ravages of chronic disease, but one that will bring possibility and meaning back into people's lives at a personal, family, group and community level.
In our last year of the research we took 30 people on the journey (sponsored by QLD Health, Metro South) and it works! So now, in 2020 - we offer the Ready Reckoner Training for self-advocates, a program that will stimulate the grass roots, giving it the edge to set new trends in healthcare.
Inviting you to join me on my journey, stay in touch or contact me if you want to be involved or know more.
Publications:
Smart Patient® Journey Road Map, increasing your odds for success. ISBN 9780980376296
Dietary Healing, the complete detox program. ISBN 9780980376203
Nutritional Healing, after the work of Dr. Max Gerson. ISBN 9780980376234
Health Commons Ready Reckoner, Course Companion Guide. ISBN 9780994334213