Finding Meaning in Healthcare

Rupal Shah is a GP and medical educator in London. She has published widely in the field of medical education, including Fighting for the Soul of General Practice – The Algorithm Will See You Now (2024) and the hermeneutic window series of articles.Robert Clarke is a retired GP and medical educator who has a longstanding interest in evidence based medicine. He first co-formulated the hermeneutic window to demonstrate that biomedical and humanistic approaches are complementary and has collaborated with Rupal Shah and colleagues in arguing that meaning making is essential in healthcare.

'A timely book which argues that relationship-based care is more important than ever at a time when health care is increasingly fragmented, taskified, deprofessionalised and digitised.' Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, University of Oxford'An inspiring collection of essays that eloquently diagnoses the dis-ease afflicting contemporary healthcare. And Finding Meaning in Healthcare goes beyond diagnosis to offer us the cure – an elegant framework which, applied to every consultation and clinical encounter, will transform the experience of both patients and the practitioners who care for them. Essential reading for anyone who has even an inkling that, for all the spectacular advances of medicine in the scientific era, the practice of healthcare has grievously lost its way.'Dr Phil Whitaker, Medical Editor, New Statesman, and author of What Is a Doctor? – A GP's Prescription for the Future'Much of general practice and primary care seems to be drowning in anxiety and despondency both for patients and professionals. This book provides some much-needed life rafts!'Dr Iona Heath, Past President Royal College of General Practitioners

• Foreword by Victor Montori. Chapter 1. An Introduction to the Four Domain Model Robert Clarke and Rupal Shah. Chapter 2. A History of Hermeneutics Emma Ladds. Chapter 3. Nudging the Status Quo Emma Ladds, Melissa Sayer and Rupal Shah. Chapter 4. Hermeneutic Approaches in Complex Multimorbidity Sophie Park and Martina Ann Kelly. Chapter 5. Hermeneutic Approaches in Mental Health and Chronic Pain Jens Foell and Sami Timimi. Chapter 6. Hermeneutics – An Ethical and Philosophical Perspective Paquita de Zulueta and John Spicer. Chapter 7. A Hermeneutic Approach to Social Injustice Austin O’Carroll. Chapter 8. The Human Element in the Age of AI: Balancing Technology and Meaning in Medicine Marcus Lewis, Sylvie Delacroix, David Fraile Navarro, Richard Lehman. Chapter 9. Hermeneutic Approaches to Leadership Jo-Anne Johnson and Sanjiv Ahluwalia. Chapter 10. Meaning Making in Frontline Medical Education John Launer and Louise Younie. Chapter 11. A Hermeneutic Approach to Professionalism and the Link with Practical Wisdom Sabena Jameel. Chapter 12. Flourishing Spaces Louise Younie. Chapter 13. Quality Rebellion: Hermeneutics Beyond the Clinical Encounter Jane Myat and Jane Riddiford.