Using mindfulness in health and social care
You can read the whole discussion here…
Bob Chase- Mindful in the City
I am heartened by having four young doctors coming along to my current public 8 week MBSR (mindfulness) course. Are they unusually enlightened or is this the start of a change in self care for medics and a desire to gain knowledge about something they might prescribe one day?
HayleyGillard
I love this question! I think it’s the start of a change. I was talking to someone from an NHS mental health team this week who wants to look more and more into how we can work holistically to address patients needs. In Leeds we are running a scheme called the Patient Empowerment Programme which means GP’s can refer people to “non-medical” options, such as my barefoot walking club for example! I have faith that the medical profession are moving towards prescribing things other than medication/talking therapies etc.
Vidyamala: co-founder, Breathworks
As mindfulness becomes more ‘mainstream’ it is becoming increasingly respected as a helpful and useful approach to managing one’s own well-being as well as something that can be offered to others. Wouldn’t it be great if future medics thought of offering skills such as mindfulness as standard practice. One way to think of mindfulness and associated approacges is as ‘mental training’ in the same way that we have learned to care for our physical health. 50 years ago there were very few gyms and now they are common in most of our communities. It has been suggested that the next big Public Health initiative will be around mental and emotional health and programmes such as mindfulness will become standard.
Emma Thornton
I am pleased to say most of the doctors I have met especially the junior ones have been so open minded to a variety of approaches and interventions and are always seeking to gain new insights and improve their own knowledge and practice.
I left the NHS to found my company due to be unable to witness the lack of self care in the system with high sicknes and poor retention rates due to workplace pressures and stress I am interested in how applied mindfulness can be used to build resilence in professionals. It would be interesting to find out of the doctors are attending to test out the viability of what they see as a potential model for treatment MBSR or if it really is somone wanting to embark upon mindul practice for the first time for their own benefit
