The Missing Skill in Health Programs: Teaching People How to Decide
And a framework to do just that.
Health Shift: Your Personalized Guide to Making Strategic Health Decisions is now available for all, and I couldn’t be more excited. It launched today, and while it's written for the individual reader, its reach is far greater.
This book was designed to help people do something most of us rarely do when it comes to our health: slow down and think.
Not just think more, but think differently.
From HR professionals to health coaches, clinicians to wellness program directors, we've all seen it: People making rushed, biased, or misinformed decisions—not because they don't care, but because they’re overwhelmed, avoidant, overconfident, underinformed, or operating from default patterns.
The problem isn’t just misinformation, it’s how we process it. The issue isn’t simply a broken healthcare system, it’s how we manage our expectations of it. The challenge isn’t a lack of health-improvement options, it’s knowing which one best fits us, why it does, and when to begin.
As a health practitioner, I’ve repeatedly seen that we often form conclusions first, then justify them, constructing arguments to fit beliefs we’ve already decided to hold. Behavioral science calls this motivated reasoning (Kunda, 1990), and it’s one of many cognitive traps explored in this book. Drawing from the works of the most brilliant minds in psychology, like Daniel Kahneman, Adam Grant, Joseph Bikart, Annie Duke, Daniel Pink, Steven Pinker, Cass Sustein, and Chip and Dan Heath, Health Shift offers a distilled, practical solution to navigating health: Teach people how to reason before they conclude.
This book helps readers:
Understand their health decision-making personality (because self-awareness leads to smarter choices)
Recognize health blind spots and how past experiences, persuasion, and bias influence decisions
Learn to apply logic, curiosity, and strategic reasoning to health challenges, big or small
Replace impulsive or reactive health behaviors with intentional ones
Regain health perspective—what matters most, and why
It’s simple, actionable, and surprisingly empowering. I’ve taught students and coached these principles, and the results have been incredible. Watching people make better health decisions is one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done.
What if your clients, your patients, or your employees made just one better health decision this week? And then another next week? How might their trajectory change?
How might your outcomes improve? Imagine how it would feel if you had a part in helping people make challenging health decisions more thoughtfully?
Health Shift isn’t just a book. It’s a framework. A resource you can place in someone’s hands to help them think better, choose better, and ultimately feel better. Refer people to different chapters like a guide, or use the book as a corporate health challenge. I’m also happy to speak to your population to explain the key strategies behind shifting the way we think about our health!
If you're looking for a way to help your team, patients, or organization move beyond surface-level health engagement and toward strategic, sustainable decision-making, this book is just the beginning.
We’ve been scaling the Health Shift approach for organizations through a suite of tools. One is the Health Intelligence Assessment—a first-of-its-kind resource that helps individuals understand how they make health decisions and then how to improve them.
If you're interested in bringing this work to your organization or learning more about the tools available, feel free to contact me. I look forward to working with you. Let’s help people make better health decisions—on purpose!
In good health,
Dr. Alice Burron
Also — if you’re local to Cheyenne, Wyoming or the area, join me this weekend on May 17th for the book launch! It will be from 2-5pm at Black Tooth Brewing and I’d love to see you there!
A little more about Dr. Alice Burron and Strategic Action Health:
Dr. Burron is a co-founder of Strategic Action Health, dedicated to helping organizations help their employees make better health decisions. Come check us out here!
Catch us on Instagram: @the.health.navigator and @dr_burron
You can also connect on LinkedIn, if you want to be professional about it. 👓
And if you’re not subscribed to Health Shift here on Substack — it’s time! This free newsletter is packed with valuable information and approaches to help you on your journey to better, faster healing.
Health Shift: Your Strategic Guide to Making Strategic Health Decisions book will officially launch on May 17, 2025! Mark your calendars! And if you’re in Cheyenne, join us for our party at Blacktooth Brewery. Have a beer on us!