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	"Humanity in Healthcare" public monthly lecture series Papers, presentations or Flash video of past lectures can be viewed here. Monday 18th August, 2008 Humanity and Compassion in Healthcare Dr Robin Youngson (supported by the Kaumatua of Waitemata DHB, Pereme Porter) Outline Robin speaks from the heart about his own journey of learning as a doctor, the brutalisation of medical training, his retreat into clinical detachment and then re-finding his humanity and compassion. He tells the story of one of his greatest teachers – a patient called Jessie, of the experiences of his daughter Chloe in hospital with a broken neck, and of his gradual realisation that we need to strengthen the heart of healthcare and to challenge some Western beliefs about compassion. Download Robin's paper here Robin Youngson is the Founder of the Centre for Compassion in Healthcare. He is an anaesthetic specialist at Waitakere Hospital and North Shore Hospital in Auckland. He began medicine as a mature student and has always been passionate about improving the experience of patients within healthcare. Robin was the Clinical Leader overseeing the development of the new Waitakere Hospital, which serves an underprivileged and culturally diverse population in west Auckland. In the new hospital development emphasis was placed on creating a safe, healthy and caring environment for those who work within the hospital, which is reflected in the care and compassion shown to patients and family members. Robin has held a number of leadership roles. He was Acting Chair of the EpiQual national committee in 2007 and then a member of the national Quality Improvement Committee in 2007/8. In 2007, Robin was a spokesman for the World Health Organisation in the Tokyo launch of a new WHO strategy and policy on "People at the Centre of Health Care". His work on compassion in healthcare is achieving international influence.   Monday 15th September, 2008 The Role of Hope in Clinical Practice Bev Silvester-Clark RN, Dip N, Dip Counselling & Dip Psychotherapy (Psychosynthesis) Outline Twenty five years ago, when I was the Charge Nurse of the Oncology unit at Auckland Hospital, I saw that healing was inextricably interwoven with hope. What is hope? What inspires it? What destroys it? Eventually this exploration distilled into an understanding that it is about meaning making. With all the evidence of the power of the placebo and nocebo effects might the ability to support the making of positive meaning be the most significant thing that we, as clinicians, have to offer? In this presentation we will reflect on clients stories and how we, in our clinical practice, can responsibly and actively support positive meaning making, even in the face of devastating medical treatments and prognoses. (Video film awaited) Bev has been deeply committed to mind-body-spirit approaches to health and healing for more than 25 years. Her clinical experience began in Surgery and Oncology. She has also trained in a wide range of counselling & psychotherapeutic modalities and in several internationally recognised mind-body-spirit programmes. Since 2000 she has been in partnership with two practitioners in Colorado, USA. Together they have created several small group psycho-educational programmes under the name of Creating Health International (www.creatinghealthinternational.org). The programmes support, educate and inspire participants to mobilise their own capacity to heal and promote wellness. Bev has guided almost 300 people with all manner of medical issues through these programmes.   Monday 20th October, 2008 You Can’t Wipe Tears from Someone’s Face without Getting Your Hands Wet Dr Peter Huggard Outline In this session Peter will present the development of the constructs of compassion fatigue (CF) and compassion satisfaction (CS). Results from a study of CF and CS involving Registered Medical Officers will be discussed, as well as possible relationships between CF and resilience, empathy, spirituality, emotional competence, and support-seeking behaviours. Comparisons will be made with studies of other health professionals. (Video film awaited) Peter is a senior lecturer and academic advisor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland. His teaching responsibilities are in the area of therapeutic communication and he is involved in a number of projects exploring compassion fatigue and wellbeing across a range of health professional groups. He is completing a doctoral degree examining compassion fatigue in doctors.   Monday 17th November, 2008 Learning, Not Lynching: Finding Humanity in Complaints Ron Paterson Outline Most patients who complain about health care are motivated to improve health services and prevent other patients suffering a similar experience. Yet health professionals often find it difficult to learn from complaints, and may attribute harmful motives to complainants and complaint handling agencies. In this talk, I will discuss some of the lessons I have learnt in eight years as Commissioner, in seeking to find the humanity in complaints even in the midst of hostility and bitterness. (Video awaited)   Ron Paterson was appointed Health and Disability Commissioner in March 2000 and his term was renewed for a further five years in March 2008. He has played a leading role in health care law, ethics and policy in New Zealand for the past decade. Ron helped draft New Zealand’s Code of Consumers’ Rights (1996), which he now administers as Commissioner – assessing and investigating complaints about the quality of health care and disability services, and advocating for consumers on policy issues.   Monday 16th February, 2009 The Power of Apology Dr Marie Bismark Outline The healthcare system is a high risk environment where things can, and do, go wrong. Yet for some health practitioners, sorry still seems to be the hardest word. • Why are apologies so important to injured patients and their families? • What are the benefits - to patients, health practitioners, and our healthcare system - of openly disclosing harm? • Do our healthcare and legal systems do enough to support practitioners who say "I'm sorry"? Download Marie's paper here   Dr Marie Bismark is a Senior Associate with Buddle Findlay’s health law team and serves on the ACC Board of Directors, the Bioethics Council, and the New Zealand Law Society’s Health Law Committee. Marie holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (Otago, 1997), a Bachelor of Laws (Victoria, 2001), and a Masters of Bioethics and Health Law (Victoria, 2001). She has previously practised as a doctor in several New Zealand hospitals and served as a legal advisor to the Health and Disability Commissioner. In 2004–2005, Marie was a Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, researching alternatives to medical malpractice litigation.   Monday 16th March, 2009 Who Cares? Narratives of People Who are Dying, and Their Families Prof Rod MacLeod   Outline This work intends to improve end-of-life care education by investigating how care is perceived and experienced by people who are dying and their loved ones in urban New Zealand. By asking recipients of care how they felt about it they indicated that in order to engender a feeling of being cared for, doctors need to focus on each member of the caring relationship primarily as individual human beings. Doctors need to invite and develop a relationship with those they are caring for, drawing upon their inherent tendency to care and feel and demonstrate the empathy and compassion expected and assumed of medical graduates. This is not news but the narratives give powerful signals as to how care should and should not be delivered. (This work was undertaken by Dr Anna Janssen and Prof Rod MacLeod) (Video awaited)   Rod is Medical Director of Hibiscus Coast Hospice and was previously District Medical Director of Palliative Care (Waitemata DHB). He has a longstanding interest in education in palliative care, completing his PhD work in 2002 with a submission entitled “Changing the way that doctors learn to care for people who are dying”. He has published widely in the area of palliative care in national and international peer reviewed journals and his current research interests include the nature of medical care. Rod is Honorary Clinical Professor in General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Auckland and Adjunct Professor in the Departments of General Practice and Medical and Surgical Sciences at the Dunedin School of Medicine, Otago.   << BACK