Dr. Kavita Patel: Chronic Loneliness Is Killing Us

About this video

In a medical culture that lionizes certain types of research and privileges specific diseases over others, “regular bread and butter medicine” gets little attention.

The doctor and the patient lose sight of one another and the quality of primary care wanes. Dr. Kavita Patel says healthcare needs to be more convenient, human-centered, and holistic. “We’re not seeing the complexities of people’s lives,” she says. “The patient might check a box indicating that she is a 45-year-old woman, but is she a 45-year-old woman who has had two divorces and is trying to find a job?”