Why “healthspan” matters more than lifespan — and why we’re excited for our fireside chat with André Picard
In a recent Globe and Mail column, health journalist André Picard breaks down a striking finding from new research in The Lancet Public Health: while people are living longer than ever, more of those extra years are being spent in poor health. Researchers call this the “morbidity gap” — and it’s growing fastest in wealthy countries like Canada, where people can now expect to spend roughly 17% of their lives dealing with chronic pain, disability, or illness.
The biggest drivers aren’t just the major killers like cancer or heart disease — they’re everyday conditions like lower back pain, anxiety and depression, hearing loss, and injuries from falls. Picard argues that our health care systems are built to treat sickness, not prevent it, and that the real opportunity lies in shifting more attention and resources toward prevention and long-term disease management, rather than intervening only after something goes wrong.
His core message: it’s not enough to add years to life — we need to add life to those years.
This is exactly the conversation we’re bringing to our upcoming fireside chat, where André Picard joins us to talk about the importance of prevention, and how naturopathic medicine’s focus on root causes and long-term wellness fits into this bigger picture of extending not just lifespan, but healthspan.
Please note a subscription to the Globe and Mail is required to access the full article.
