Nemours Children's CEO Releases New eBook on Essentials of Health Beyond the Doctor's Office

Book offers engaging insights on raising healthier kids and becoming a healthier nation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- R. Lawrence Moss, MD, president and CEO of Nemours Children's Health, today released a new eBook, Finding Health by Looking in the Right Place: How Understanding What Actually Creates Health Can Fix U.S. Healthcare. The electronic book shares the essential factors for promoting good health outside of medical care and illustrates the connection between children's health and healthier adults. Nemours Children's is making it available to the public free of charge at Nemours.org/larrymossleadership.

"Our system is designed to expect health from medical care alone, but medical care accounts for just 15 to 20 percent of health," said Dr. Moss. "Factors like safe housing, friendships, a good education, neighborhood safety, and a stable home environment determine most of our health."

"Dr. Moss brings to life the many ways that health is all around us, with concrete examples of how health is created in everyday life," said the book's foreword author Michael McGinnis, MD, executive director and senior scholar for the National Academy of Medicine and a former Nemours board member. "He does not just share his opinions but cites existing programs that are successfully promoting the creation of health."

A renowned pediatric surgeon, biomedical researcher, educator and health system executive, Dr. Moss makes important public health topics relatable and engaging for all readers. The eBook addresses the social determinants that play a crucial role in making the lives of children and adults healthier, including: 

• The people around us: The benefit of a good start in life, inspiration from women for a healthier future, and the power of friendships;
• Our environment and health: The power of nature, transportation and health, and helping kids weather summer heat; and
• Health through empowerment: Heart health at all ages, nutrition's super-powers, and empowerment through better sleep.

Dr. Moss outlines simple steps that individuals can take to improve their health and that of their families and their communities.

"If our nation's healthcare system focused on addressing all inputs to health instead of medical care alone, we would live longer lives, suffer less, and be less susceptible to illness," Moss said. "I believe that fixing healthcare in the U.S. is a three-point undertaking. Understand what health is. Pay for health (and not just medical care). Start with children. This is my vision for transforming health in America."

About Nemours Children's Health
Nemours Children's Health is one of the nation's largest multistate pediatric health systems, which includes two free-standing children's hospitals and a network of more than 70 primary and specialty care practices. Nemours Children's seeks to transform the health of children by adopting a holistic health model that utilizes innovative, safe, and high-quality care, while also caring for the health of the whole child beyond medicine. Nemours Children's also powers the world's most-visited website for information on the health of children and teens, Nemours KidsHealth.org.

The Nemours Foundation, established through the legacy and philanthropy of Alfred I. duPont, provides pediatric clinical care, research, education, advocacy, and prevention programs to the children, families, and communities it serves. For more information, visit Nemours.org.

SOURCE Nemours Children's Health