Modern healthcare often defaults to a model of symptom management rather than health optimization. Dr. Sherry McAllister, President of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, calls attention to this critical limitation. At the 2025 Global Health & Purpose Summit – as part of People and Planet United, presented by FINN Partners, in collaboration with HITLAB, The Galien Foundation, and 1BusinessWorld, during New York City Health Innovation Week – she emphasizes the urgent need to shift from simply treating what’s broken to nurturing what makes us whole.
Health systems currently prioritize disease treatment over preventive care, addressing problems only after they surface as pain or dysfunction. This approach, McAllister argues, is akin to continually emptying a bucket catching drips from a leaking pipe without ever repairing the underlying issue. It provides temporary relief but fails to address the root cause, perpetuating cycles of illness and pain.
In McAllister’s view, true progress begins by reimagining healthcare: listening deeply to patients, fostering collaborative care models, and promoting treatments that address individuals’ physical, emotional, social, and purposeful needs. This concept, known as whole-being care, is not a fleeting trend but a necessary evolution in how we conceptualize wellness.
The Hidden Crisis of Chronic Pain and Mental Health
Globally, over a billion people silently endure chronic pain, often feeling unseen, unheard, and unsupported by traditional healthcare systems. In the United States alone, chronic pain affects millions, intertwined closely with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. According to McAllister, adults living with chronic pain are five times more likely to report anxiety or depression. Over half of those experiencing mental health struggles concurrently suffer from unresolved chronic pain.
These statistics underscore a profound public health crisis that McAllister describes as both physical and emotional. She points out that individuals caught in this cycle frequently feel disconnected from conventional medical treatments, which often isolate physical symptoms from emotional and psychological states. Traditional healthcare, she contends, typically fails to acknowledge that physical pain and mental distress are intricately linked, creating fragmented and ineffective care plans.
Embracing Whole-Being Care as a Path Forward
Whole-being care presents a compelling alternative. It rejects compartmentalized treatment in favor of an integrated model that recognizes the deep interconnections between physical pain, emotional well-being, and social engagement. As McAllister notes, whole-being care is not about adding more isolated treatments; it’s about a more compassionate integration of care that treats the entire individual rather than discrete symptoms.
She highlights the importance of collaboration among healthcare providers—including chiropractors, mental health professionals, and lifestyle coaches—working together to achieve lasting results. Chiropractic care, in particular, exemplifies this integrative approach, offering hands-on support that aligns the body, encourages movement, and fosters a sense of control. By complementing this physical approach with mental health services and supportive lifestyle practices, healthcare can become genuinely patient-centered, driving meaningful and enduring improvements in health outcomes.
Realigning Health Systems Toward Prevention and Optimization
One of the most critical insights from McAllister’s session is the imperative to shift from reactive healthcare to proactive health optimization. She observes that culturally, individuals are often conditioned to act only when pain or symptoms manifest. Modern medicine typically reinforces this reactive model by reimbursing treatments only after symptoms emerge, rather than investing in preventive care. As a result, healthcare systems inadvertently perpetuate dysfunction, addressing conditions only when they have escalated significantly.
McAllister underscores the urgent need to transform healthcare reimbursement policies and insurance coverage. To genuinely prioritize health, systems must incentivize preventive care, encouraging regular health maintenance before issues become severe. This proactive approach aligns with whole-being care’s philosophy, emphasizing early intervention, lifestyle adjustments, and holistic patient support.
Drawing Insights from Everyday Analogies
To illustrate the shortcomings of the current healthcare paradigm, McAllister shares a personal story of discovering a small, persistent leak beneath a sink. Initially placing a bucket to catch dripping water, she repeatedly postponed addressing the root cause—the broken seal. Eventually, the bucket overflowed, creating a mess and highlighting the foolishness of delaying essential repairs.
This metaphor powerfully encapsulates modern healthcare’s fundamental flaw: reacting to immediate symptoms (the overflowed bucket) rather than proactively repairing the underlying dysfunction (the leaking pipe). In human terms, prescribing painkillers for chronic pain without addressing the root cause mirrors emptying a full bucket without repairing the leak. The solution, McAllister argues, lies in shifting from symptomatic treatment to root-cause resolution through whole-being care.
Learning from High-Performance Systems
Drawing parallels to automotive maintenance, McAllister further clarifies this shift. Modern vehicles are equipped with sophisticated diagnostic dashboards that alert drivers to minor issues long before catastrophic failure occurs. This preventive model ensures optimal vehicle performance by addressing small problems proactively.
Healthcare, she insists, must adopt a similar strategy. Chiropractic care, she argues, functions analogously to a diagnostic dashboard for the body, identifying misalignments, restricted mobility, and nervous system stress before they manifest as pain or disease. This preventive care model encourages regular, proactive health maintenance, supporting overall wellness and resilience rather than merely reacting to acute symptoms.
The World Health Organization’s Vision of Whole-Person Health
McAllister aligns her whole-being care concept closely with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of whole-person health, which stresses a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being rather than merely the absence of disease. The WHO advocates for comprehensive health services that integrate physical, emotional, and social dimensions, accounting for broader life contexts such as housing, education, and socioeconomic status.
Whole-being care complements this vision by emphasizing personal empowerment and proactive health management. It encourages individuals to actively participate in their care, making lifestyle adjustments that support optimal health and vitality. In this model, healthcare is not limited to treating illness; it actively promotes flourishing throughout the entire health span, maximizing both longevity and quality of life.
Evidence Supporting an Integrated Approach
Science increasingly validates McAllister’s holistic perspective. Recent research published in JAMA, for instance, demonstrates significant benefits from combining lifestyle interventions with guideline-based medical treatments for chronic conditions such as low back pain. This integrated approach yields measurable improvements in disability, weight management, and overall quality of life, providing strong empirical support for whole-being care practices.
The global prevalence of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension further underscores the importance of adopting integrative health models. These conditions, largely preventable through lifestyle interventions, highlight the necessity of healthcare systems prioritizing prevention and holistic care, as advocated by McAllister.
Cultivating a Collaborative Healthcare Culture
A vital component of McAllister’s presentation centers around collaboration in healthcare delivery. Effective whole-being care requires providers to transcend traditional professional boundaries, fostering integrated teams where chiropractors, physicians, mental health professionals, and lifestyle coaches work closely together. This collaborative environment not only improves clinical outcomes but also sends a powerful message to patients: they are not alone in their health journey.
McAllister passionately argues that patient-centered collaboration transforms healthcare interactions, creating more compassionate and connected experiences. Rather than feeling isolated and disempowered, patients benefit from coordinated, supportive care that respects their dignity and engages them fully in their healing process.
Vision for the Future: A Call to Action
Looking ahead, McAllister calls for concrete actions to embed whole-being care into global health strategies. She urges policymakers, healthcare administrators, and providers to rethink existing models, prioritizing preventive care, and holistic approaches. By addressing policy gaps—such as insurance coverage for preventive treatments—and advocating for evidence-based integrative practices, stakeholders can profoundly shift healthcare culture.
Her organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, actively contributes to this vision by promoting awareness and education through publications like their new Forbes book, Adjusted Reality, and podcasts sharing insights from leading experts. McAllister invites healthcare professionals and patients alike to engage with these resources, fostering a shared commitment to advancing whole-being care globally.
A Transformative Impact for People and Planet
Whole-being care offers more than clinical improvements; it provides a transformative pathway toward sustainable health and well-being. By embracing a holistic, preventive, and collaborative healthcare model, society can significantly reduce chronic pain, enhance mental health, and prevent unnecessary drug-related tragedies.
McAllister’s vision extends beyond healthcare to broader societal impacts. As health improves, communities become more resilient, reducing overall burdens on healthcare infrastructure and enhancing social equality. A preventive, integrative health approach benefits not only individual lives but also broader environmental and social ecosystems, contributing meaningfully to global sustainability and equity.
In essence, McAllister’s message at the Global Health & Purpose Summit represents a powerful call to action for all stakeholders to embrace whole-being care, fundamentally transforming healthcare into a system that genuinely uplifts, empowers, and heals people and the planet alike.
