
In 2011, Cromwell-based doctor David Beaumont was giving a talk at the Goodfellow Symposium in Auckland about the importance of work -particularly good work for people's health.
The symposium, which is held annually, is attended by about 1000 people working in primary health care, and as a first-time presenter, he was feeling a little apprehensive.
At that time, Beaumont, who trained in Britain and moved to New Zealand in 2006, was just starting to formulate his thoughts about a new way of practising medicine that he now calls positive medicine.
At its heart is the belief that good health is about more than just the absence of disease. It's based on Te Whare Tapa Whā, a model of health developed in 1984 by leading Māori health advocate Sir Mason Durie, which takes the view that good health is broader than just its physical aspects. It also incorporates psychological, emotional and spiritual health.
For Beaumont, good health is best achieved when doctors (or other health professionals) and patients work together as equal partners to make sure all these four things are properly attended to.
This may seem a relatively uncontroversial idea now that concepts such as "wellbeing" have become mainstream and there's a greater recognition of how closely the mind and the body are connected. But it certainly didn't seem uncontroversial to one GP at the symposium in 2011.
"Halfway through my talk, a hand shot up at the back and this woman said, ‘Could you finish off the point you’re making and summarise the rest? This is a complete waste of my time.’”
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A hint of mermaids
Erin Palmisano's latest novel once again has food and romance at the heart of its well-plotted story.

Execution over innovation
Big and bold ideas are fine, but being the best beats being first.

Something's wrong with all of them
Engaging dissection of the 20th-century novel likely to send the reader in search for the book under discussion.

Cell warfare
A NZ trial using immunotherapy to beat a form of blood cancer is expanding after promising results – and it's hoped the 'gold standard' treatment will soon be widely available.

The virus that stole all the smells
In this edited extract from The Forgotten Sense, Jonas Olofsson traces the rise in anosmia as a result of Covid-19 infections.

When caring is ‘woke'
Some years ago, I sat in a small plane circling over Punta del Este in Uruguay. There was a delay and we sat in tense silence until we began our descent. Outside the tiny airport, a taxi ferried us past private Lear jets; these had been the cause of the hold-up. The driver pointed to two planes side by side. \"This one is a Trump plane.\"

Getting along swimmingly
The presenters of Endangered Species Aotearoa spend a fair bit of time on and in the water in the second season.

That clingy feeling
Our pets display the same types of attachment behaviours as we do, or so it seems.

The famous furred
A peaceful little spot in LA is the final resting place for the pets of some of Hollywood's biggest names.

Gone girl
She wandered in on Thursday morning looking very wan, and climbed into her bed. I sat on the edge and stroked her back.