Dr. Patricia Saleeby’s TEDx Bradley University talk addresses a critical challenge in modern healthcare: our emphasis on diagnostic labels at the expense of understanding how people actually function in their daily lives and their choices in life. Drawing from powerful personal stories and clinical cases, Dr. Saleeby advocates for a transformative shift toward functional-centered care and human flourishing. This paradigm shift represents hope for a healthcare future where every person is seen, heard, and supported in their journey toward optimal functioning and well-being. It’s a vision worth pursuing, one story, one patient, and one healthcare encounter at a time. Dr. Patricia Welch Saleeby is Professor and Department Chair of the Dept. of Sociology, Criminology and Social Work at Bradley. She is the global Co-Chair of the Functioning and Disability Reference Group for the World Health Organization (WHO) focusing on improving data quality and comparability of international classifications like ICD, ICF, and ICHI. As part of the WHO Environmental Task Force, she helped develop the first environmental codes in the ICF predating Social Determinants of Health. She is a member of the Post-Acute Care Interoperability Project (PACIO) sponsored by CMS and MITRE Corporation, and the GRAVITY Project, which is a national collaborative developing data standards around using & sharing information on social determinants of health. She is an International Advisory Board member for the Columbia-WHO Center for Global Mental Health, a member of the Coalition for Social Work and Health, Council on Social Work Education, and National Association of Social Workers. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx