SUMMARY REPORT OF THE 12TH GENEVA CONFERENCE ON PERSON CENTERED MEDICINE
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Published:
Apr 1, 2021
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Abstract
The Board of the ICPCM suggested Prof. Robert Cloninger from St. Louis, USA
to become the Program Director for this event and he graciously accepted. The
theme was chosen as “Promoting well-being and overcoming burn out.” This
came as a natural follow-up of previous conferences where well-being has been a
prominent issue. Furthermore, it has been evident in recent years that burnout
among health professionals has become a real threat, not only to those that are
being inflicted by the situation but also to those who rely on service provided by
these professionals. This is not a new phenomenon but has been increasing in
prevalence throughout the world in recent years and is therefore gaining increased
attention. Health authorities have recognized these problems and are concerned
but the solutions they generally propose to solve the problem seem not be very
efficient. A great emphasis is on increasing resilience of health professionals and
to adopt methods to help those already having signs of burnout or that have even
entered into the full blown situation. A reflection of the cause of burnout and
thereby the root to the solution is found in the preamble of the Declaration adopted
by the Board of ICPCM following the event (see in more detail later): “Burnout is
caused by a variety of dehumanizing processes in which there is a gap between
who a person is and what they are required to do.” Furthermore, this is stated at
the end of the preamble: “Effective improvement in the well-being cannot succeed
without recognizing that the foundation for well-being in healthcare is respect for
the intrinsic dignity of every person. Medical institutions initially tried to minimize
or ignore the toxicity of organizational environments in which medical students
and practitioners must operate. Hospitals and medical schools tried to improve
the resilience of healthcare providers to stress, rather than admitting the need to
change toxic organizational conditions. Unfortunately, there has been little
benefit from such efforts because the fundamental problem was not addressed.
Specifically, person-centered healthcare and people-centered healthcare systems
are essential for promoting well-being and overcoming burnout.”
to become the Program Director for this event and he graciously accepted. The
theme was chosen as “Promoting well-being and overcoming burn out.” This
came as a natural follow-up of previous conferences where well-being has been a
prominent issue. Furthermore, it has been evident in recent years that burnout
among health professionals has become a real threat, not only to those that are
being inflicted by the situation but also to those who rely on service provided by
these professionals. This is not a new phenomenon but has been increasing in
prevalence throughout the world in recent years and is therefore gaining increased
attention. Health authorities have recognized these problems and are concerned
but the solutions they generally propose to solve the problem seem not be very
efficient. A great emphasis is on increasing resilience of health professionals and
to adopt methods to help those already having signs of burnout or that have even
entered into the full blown situation. A reflection of the cause of burnout and
thereby the root to the solution is found in the preamble of the Declaration adopted
by the Board of ICPCM following the event (see in more detail later): “Burnout is
caused by a variety of dehumanizing processes in which there is a gap between
who a person is and what they are required to do.” Furthermore, this is stated at
the end of the preamble: “Effective improvement in the well-being cannot succeed
without recognizing that the foundation for well-being in healthcare is respect for
the intrinsic dignity of every person. Medical institutions initially tried to minimize
or ignore the toxicity of organizational environments in which medical students
and practitioners must operate. Hospitals and medical schools tried to improve
the resilience of healthcare providers to stress, rather than admitting the need to
change toxic organizational conditions. Unfortunately, there has been little
benefit from such efforts because the fundamental problem was not addressed.
Specifically, person-centered healthcare and people-centered healthcare systems
are essential for promoting well-being and overcoming burnout.”
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