New Paradigms in Healthcare – serie

The Covid pandemic has led us into an upheaval that has made us question the certainties underlying what it means to be a human being in our age; the ability to control medical and social facts through evidence. For the first-time western and developed countries have had to confront what many populations from the developing world (Africa. Latin America, etc) face on a daily basis with HIV and Ebola, etc. The Interconnectedness of Globalization has been the real disseminating catalyst of COVID 19, and many scientists wonder if this virus is the result of the Anthropocene age, with its indisputable lack of respect for the natural ecosystems.  The virus has demonstrated that our frailty is only skin deep, and it has not only brought death, despair, but it has broken our interdependency as human beings, by imposing self- isolation as well as creating new ways of connections so that safety cannot imply loneliness. In this book, the coping strategies that originate from the multiplelanguages of care such as narrative, literature, science, philosophy, art, digital science are shown not only as reflective tools to promote health but also wellbeing amongst carers, patients, students, and citizens of our planet Earth. These strategies should be supported by the decision makers since they are low-cost investments necessary to make the health care system work. They however require a change of cultural paradigm. This book is a useful toolkit for patients, citizens and care services physicians who want to learn more on how to live better with this new world.

The Covid pandemic has led us into an upheaval that has made us question the certainties underlying what it means to be a human being in our age; the ability to control medical and social facts through evidence. For the first-time western and developed countries have had to confront what many populations from the developing world (Africa. Latin America, etc) face on a daily basis with HIV and Ebola, etc. The Interconnectedness of Globalization has been the real disseminating catalyst of COVID 19, and many scientists wonder if this virus is the result of the Anthropocene age, with its indisputable lack of respect for the natural ecosystems.  The virus has demonstrated that our frailty is only skin deep, and it has not only brought death, despair, but it has broken our interdependency as human beings, by imposing self- isolation as well as creating new ways of connections so that safety cannot imply loneliness. In this book, the coping strategies that originate from the multiplelanguages of care such as narrative, literature, science, philosophy, art, digital science are shown not only as reflective tools to promote health but also wellbeing amongst carers, patients, students, and citizens of our planet Earth. These strategies should be supported by the decision makers since they are low-cost investments necessary to make the health care system work. They however require a change of cultural paradigm. This book is a useful toolkit for patients, citizens and care services physicians who want to learn more on how to live better with this new world.

This book provides a practical guide on the art and science of compassionate care in an era of healthcare crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic that is inflicting long-lasting financial and psychosocial trauma on an unprecedented scale. A new approach to compassionate care is presented based on the overarching concepts of empathy, person and family centeredness, therapeutic relationship, kindness, gratitude, spirituality, communication skills, shared decision making, positive psychology, adversity-activated development, self-care, compassion fatigue, spirituality which are more than ever critical in successfully managing the pandemic adversity in front of us. This book draws on clinical experience, educational activities and evidence-based knowledge from academic physicians (primary, secondary and tertiary care), nurses,psychologists, health economists, healthcare managers, health policymakers, medical professionals students and patients. It provides skills and knowledge that can be implemented in daily clinical practice based on all levels of healthcare on a whole-person approach. An array of clinical cases, patient journeys, published evidence and practical experience is combined to deliver in a practical way unique guidance and advice. The target audience is all healthcare professionals, health policymakers, healthcare managers and patient associations. This approach of Compassionate Care is of great importance and can save lives and money in these unprecedented times of global healthcare care system challenges.

This volume is a unique compendium of professional and practical knowledge on new paradigms and approaches in Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement that is currently missing from the Higher Education market. The intended audience includes healthcare, biomedical and physical sciences discipline specialists active in teaching, along with their students, science communicators associated with the above subjects and academics involved in relevant research/innovation. Its contents will be organised under the following three themes: 1) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning discussing pertinent knowledge, in this area, and inspiring educators to pursue similar medical humanities endeavours. The focus is on pedagogy/teaching including professional knowledge/expertise, reflections, literature reviews and evidence on a wide range of medical, biomedical and physical sciences topics interweaved with humanities. 2) Research and Innovation discussing novel work and paradigms as examples for future use/implementation. The focus is firstly on original research utilising cutting-edge technology and secondly on innovation with discussions around poetry and building communities. 3) Public Engagement discussing relevant science communication paradigms transferable to other settings and applications. The focus is on practical knowledge and examples from a wide range of healthcare and biomedical sciences topics interweaved with humanities while also exploring the hidden curriculum of public engagement and heritage practices through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion. All chapter authors are renowned experts in their respective fields, who bring together a wealth of professional and practical knowledge, enriching the narrative of this edited book volume.

This volume is a unique compendium of professional and practical knowledge on new paradigms and approaches in Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement that is currently missing from the Higher Education market. The intended audience includes healthcare, biomedical and physical sciences discipline specialists active in teaching, along with their students, science communicators associated with the above subjects and academics involved in relevant research/innovation. Its contents will be organised under the following three themes: 1) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning discussing pertinent knowledge, in this area, and inspiring educators to pursue similar medical humanities endeavours. The focus is on pedagogy/teaching including professional knowledge/expertise, reflections, literature reviews and evidence on a wide range of medical, biomedical and physical sciences topics interweaved with humanities. 2) Research and Innovation discussing novel work and paradigms as examples for future use/implementation. The focus is firstly on original research utilising cutting-edge technology and secondly on innovation with discussions around poetry and building communities. 3) Public Engagement discussing relevant science communication paradigms transferable to other settings and applications. The focus is on practical knowledge and examples from a wide range of healthcare and biomedical sciences topics interweaved with humanities while also exploring the hidden curriculum of public engagement and heritage practices through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion. All chapter authors are renowned experts in their respective fields, who bring together a wealth of professional and practical knowledge, enriching the narrative of this edited book volume.

In the current era, evidence-based medicine and various supporting technologies dominate everyday clinical practice, according to a disease-centred, as opposed to patient-centred, approach. They have obviously improved the clinical management of diseases and it is therefore unreasonable to think of a medicine in which they are not considered fundamental. In fact, the strength of the new medicine should be to adapt scientific knowledge to a specific clinical case.This book therefore looks at the prospect of a new 'person' centred medicine, which stands alongside the 'disease' and 'patient' centred medicine, which pays special attention to the subjectivity of scientific knowledge and the relationship between doctor and patient. It is important to emphasise that this book is written by several hands, i.e. by experts from different fields, doctors, philosophers, architects, sociologists, art critics, physicists and engineers. This is with the intention of providing as broad a perspective as possible on the doctor-patient relationship.Due to its translational and multicultural approach to the subject, the book will be of interest to a wide readership, from medical experts to students, psychologists, philosophers and institutional actors.

In the current era, evidence-based medicine and various supporting technologies dominate everyday clinical practice, according to a disease-centred, as opposed to patient-centred, approach. They have obviously improved the clinical management of diseases and it is therefore unreasonable to think of a medicine in which they are not considered fundamental. In fact, the strength of the new medicine should be to adapt scientific knowledge to a specific clinical case.This book therefore looks at the prospect of a new 'person' centred medicine, which stands alongside the 'disease' and 'patient' centred medicine, which pays special attention to the subjectivity of scientific knowledge and the relationship between doctor and patient. It is important to emphasise that this book is written by several hands, i.e. by experts from different fields, doctors, philosophers, architects, sociologists, art critics, physicists and engineers. This is with the intention of providing as broad a perspective as possible on the doctor-patient relationship.Due to its translational and multicultural approach to the subject, the book will be of interest to a wide readership, from medical experts to students, psychologists, philosophers and institutional actors.

The book describes the experience of four Social Dreaming Matrices held online between March and May 2020, during the first lockdown caused by the Covid 19 emergency. The pandemic isolated us and imposed prolonged contact with ourselves and our solitary thoughts. Against this backdrop, there was hope for change, a desire for a different kind of sociability and different forms of intimacy. On the basis of this evidence, our research supports the shift "from experiencing trauma to reacting to trauma", looking at a collective traumatic experience not only as something to be overcome but as an opportunity for a transformation that changes our mental schemes in relation to the external context. We have identified Social Dreaming as a privileged technique to overcome a collective traumatic experience, supporting its elaboration through collective feelings, new connections between intuition and rational thought, the discovery of community meanings. The authors's thesis is that the much-needed transition from 'magical thinking' to 'transformative thinking' takes place in a setting that is able to contain the anxieties of life's transitional phases, supporting the creation of new rituals and new   social bonds and sustaining the passage from “me” to a “wider we”.

The book describes the experience of four Social Dreaming Matrices held online between March and May 2020, during the first lockdown caused by the Covid 19 emergency. The pandemic isolated us and imposed prolonged contact with ourselves and our solitary thoughts. Against this backdrop, there was hope for change, a desire for a different kind of sociability and different forms of intimacy. On the basis of this evidence, our research supports the shift "from experiencing trauma to reacting to trauma", looking at a collective traumatic experience not only as something to be overcome but as an opportunity for a transformation that changes our mental schemes in relation to the external context. We have identified Social Dreaming as a privileged technique to overcome a collective traumatic experience, supporting its elaboration through collective feelings, new connections between intuition and rational thought, the discovery of community meanings. The authors's thesis is that the much-needed transition from 'magical thinking' to 'transformative thinking' takes place in a setting that is able to contain the anxieties of life's transitional phases, supporting the creation of new rituals and new   social bonds and sustaining the passage from “me” to a “wider we”.

The book provides an overview of the characteristics and skills – both technical and soft - needed to become the surgical leaders of tomorrow.  During the COVID pandemic, the methodological weakness in accessing and disseminating information in has become evident: this has fostered the digital development and has favoured the creation of networks and communities of individuals (not only physicians or surgeons) pointing the way to global knowledge sharing. The development of the technological offer applied to surgery has been very rapid, with the integration of minimally invasive and robotic surgery with artificial intelligence and computerization of decision-making processes, up to the extreme limit of space surgery. However, in the future of this discipline surgeons will no longer need to consider only improved access to knowledge and evolution of technology, as a great challenge will be represented by the parallel development of non-technical skills (leadership, communication, team-working) and by the careful application of healthcare management principles to clinical practice. Finally, in the near future (but already in the present), it will be impossible to ignore the economic impact of high-tech care and equity in access to care.  The book describes a journey, which starts from the history of surgical education to cross the most relevant perspectives of present and future, exploring  new learning models, the thousand applications of artificial intelligence, and surgical technology to the space and back.

The book provides an overview of the characteristics and skills – both technical and soft - needed to become the surgical leaders of tomorrow.  During the COVID pandemic, the methodological weakness in accessing and disseminating information in has become evident: this has fostered the digital development and has favoured the creation of networks and communities of individuals (not only physicians or surgeons) pointing the way to global knowledge sharing. The development of the technological offer applied to surgery has been very rapid, with the integration of minimally invasive and robotic surgery with artificial intelligence and computerization of decision-making processes, up to the extreme limit of space surgery. However, in the future of this discipline surgeons will no longer need to consider only improved access to knowledge and evolution of technology, as a great challenge will be represented by the parallel development of non-technical skills (leadership, communication, team-working) and by the careful application of healthcare management principles to clinical practice. Finally, in the near future (but already in the present), it will be impossible to ignore the economic impact of high-tech care and equity in access to care.  The book describes a journey, which starts from the history of surgical education to cross the most relevant perspectives of present and future, exploring  new learning models, the thousand applications of artificial intelligence, and surgical technology to the space and back.

The Covid-19 pandemic and current international circumstances have left many individuals feeling vulnerable, both economically and psychologically. At the same time, pressure is put on healthcare systems, particularly in Europe, resulting in doctor shortages, heavy workloads, and low salaries for healthcare workers. Patients are experiencing longer waiting lists, shorter visiting times, and emergency rooms that underestimate patients' clinical problems. As a result, episodes of self-violence and violence resulting from different causes are happening more frequently, also in hospitals. However, there is hope, and it starts with sharing our needs, thoughts, and feelings. This is where narrative medicine comes into play, as it helps bring stories to light, listen, ask open questions, analyze the spoken words, metaphors, and timing of communication, and promote a non-violent narrative. The key is to transition from violent to non-violent narratives and the consideration of relationship as a fundamental part of the therapeutic process, deserving an in-depth educational program. This is even more true if one considers that the ecosystem of health, together with the inclusion of diversity and the promotion of peace, is one of the main pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.This book aims to inspire care for one another through the narratives of people with disabilities, patients, nurses, doctors, students, carers, and individuals who meet otherness and resolve conflicts.

The Covid-19 pandemic and current international circumstances have left many individuals feeling vulnerable, both economically and psychologically. At the same time, pressure is put on healthcare systems, particularly in Europe, resulting in doctor shortages, heavy workloads, and low salaries for healthcare workers. Patients are experiencing longer waiting lists, shorter visiting times, and emergency rooms that underestimate patients' clinical problems. As a result, episodes of self-violence and violence resulting from different causes are happening more frequently, also in hospitals. However, there is hope, and it starts with sharing our needs, thoughts, and feelings. This is where narrative medicine comes into play, as it helps bring stories to light, listen, ask open questions, analyze the spoken words, metaphors, and timing of communication, and promote a non-violent narrative. The key is to transition from violent to non-violent narratives and the consideration of relationship as a fundamental part of the therapeutic process, deserving an in-depth educational program. This is even more true if one considers that the ecosystem of health, together with the inclusion of diversity and the promotion of peace, is one of the main pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.This book aims to inspire care for one another through the narratives of people with disabilities, patients, nurses, doctors, students, carers, and individuals who meet otherness and resolve conflicts.

This book offers an examination of the importance of humanism in surgical education and practice. As technology is increasingly dictating the way of being and doing in medicine, there is an urgent need to re-consider what medical humanism can offer to sustain the professional identity of surgeons and contribute to the training of future surgeons. Bioethics, usually considered as major source for the professional identity of surgeons, is ill-suited for such a task as it has produced a process of moral reasoning that is less interested in questions of personal and professional identity and more devoted to principles of obligation concerning right actions and pragmatic considerations that optimize outcomes.Fostering Humanism in Surgical Practice provides an intellectually robust medical ethics beyond bioethics and a vision of medicine qua surgery, medical professionalism, and medical humanism re-oriented toward the promotion of character development, compassionate care, and human flourishing for both patients and surgeons. This volume will be targeted at a wide scholarly audience including researchers from medicine,  philosophy (of medicine), the humanities, philosophy of technology, medical anthropology, information robotics, medical engineering, law and others. This text can be used in introductory or advanced courses in the philosophy of medicine, science and technology studies, and philosophy of technology.

This book offers an examination of the importance of humanism in surgical education and practice. As technology is increasingly dictating the way of being and doing in medicine, there is an urgent need to re-consider what medical humanism can offer to sustain the professional identity of surgeons and contribute to the training of future surgeons. Bioethics, usually considered as major source for the professional identity of surgeons, is ill-suited for such a task as it has produced a process of moral reasoning that is less interested in questions of personal and professional identity and more devoted to principles of obligation concerning right actions and pragmatic considerations that optimize outcomes.Fostering Humanism in Surgical Practice provides an intellectually robust medical ethics beyond bioethics and a vision of medicine qua surgery, medical professionalism, and medical humanism re-oriented toward the promotion of character development, compassionate care, and human flourishing for both patients and surgeons. This volume will be targeted at a wide scholarly audience including researchers from medicine,  philosophy (of medicine), the humanities, philosophy of technology, medical anthropology, information robotics, medical engineering, law and others. This text can be used in introductory or advanced courses in the philosophy of medicine, science and technology studies, and philosophy of technology.

Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine have been increasingly relevant in view of the challenges that new health technologies and the digital world pose to truly person-centered healthcare. By Narrative Medicine we understand the practice of healthcare with narrative skills that allow professionals to recognize the suffering of others and of themselves; be able to interpret verbal and non-verbal narratives of illness; and be motivated to act in a way that respects the Person of the Patient and of the Professional. Surgery, like other medical specialties, requires space for reflection and debate on the meaning of humanism and its impact on the quality of care. This requirement is more pressing in this area, because it has escaped inquiry by Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine. We believe that this is due to the nature of the surgical activity, carried out in an enclosed place, characterized by the use of sophisticated technologies, including robotics and artificial intelligence, and inaccessible to patients' relatives. In addition, the patients' own expectations about surgery reinforce the technological and highly specialized nature of this area, often marked by the neglect of the relational context, with clear prejudice to the parties involved and the activity itself. Although this gap has been identified, there has been no space for reflection on the humanization of care in surgery.This book is, therefore, innovative, precisely because it responds to the previously mentioned shortcomings, offering its readers the opportunity to reflect on Humanism in Surgery.

This book offers a pioneering interdisciplinary exploration into the role of metacognition in medical education and practice, focusing on transforming the doctor-patient relationship through cognitive, metacognitive, and humanistic approaches. It provides critical insights into how metacognitive strategies can enhance communication, empathy, and decision-making in clinical settings, thereby improving patient outcomes, healthcare quality, and burnout syndrome prevention among healthcare practitioners.The main topics covered in the book include the analysis of traditional and contemporary models of medical practice, the cognitive dynamics between healthcare providers and patients, and the integration of metacognitive training in medical education and practice.  The volume delves into the philosophical underpinnings of medical practice, comparing biomedical and biopsychosocial models while promoting a more nuanced, relationship-centered approach that considers individual belief systems and psychological needs. This book advocates for a shift in mentalities rather than a paradigm shift.These topics are not just important; they are crucial as they address the ongoing quality-of-care crisis in healthcare systems worldwide. By focusing on metacognition, the book highlights the importance of self-awareness, reflection, and critical thinking in medical practice. It challenges conventional paternalistic models by promoting a collaborative, humanistic approach that values the doctor-patient relationship as a dynamic, interdependent process.

This book offers a comprehensive exploration of the evolving role of pharmacists, focusing on the concept of care as a fundamental priority in today's healthcare landscape. It examines the trust and communication dynamics between pharmacists and patients, highlighting the critical relationship of care that emerges. In the wake of COVID-19, the interaction between healthcare professionals and the public has undergone significant transformation globally. Notably, in Italy, 2024 saw pivotal changes in drug distribution legislation, positioning community pharmacies as key healthcare hubs. This book delves into these shifts, addressing the challenges of patient marginality and fragility, as well as the self-care necessary for pharmacists to prevent burnout. Through targeted research, including a focus group with pharmacy students from the University of Siena and interviews with SIFO members, the book provides insights into how the profession is perceived by new generations and the anticipated changes resulting from AI collaboration. This essential read is tailored for pharmacy students and practicing pharmacists, offering valuable perspectives on the future of their profession.