Healthcare systems across the developed world are in trouble. Changing patterns of disease, an ageing population and advances in drugs and technology feed an inexorable rise in costs outrunning our best efforts to contain them. At a human level the system is coming under intolerable strain. Demands for cost savings squeeze out the time and humanity needed for good care and quality relationships. Safety suffers. Staff become demoralised, stressed and burned out. In the first two parts of Humanising Healthcare and focusing on the UK's National Health Service, Dr Hannah explores the fundamental assumptions which have brought us to this point and which likewise inform our current inadequate responses. She dissects the burgeoning regime of regulation and inspection that tries to impose ever tighter controls on a healthcare system that needs to be freed to serve its citizen patients. In the final part of the book, 'Another Way Is Possible', Dr Margaret Hannah offers a practical alternative strategy based on numerous examples of transformative practice from the UK and around the world. It promises a sustainable culture of healthcare that will enable us all to live healthy, fulfilled lives at a fraction of the current cost. Nuka Chief among Dr Hannah's case studies is the 'Nuka' model of care in Alaska. Healthcare in the Nuka system is based on reconnecting people into the web of life. Don Berwick, a former health adviser to President Obama and a founder of the highly respected Institute for Healthcare Improvement, has declared that Nuka "e;is probably the leading example of healthcare redesign in the world. US healthcare suffers from high costs and low quality. This system has reversed that: the quality of care is the highest I have seen anywhere in the world, and the costs are highly sustainable. It's extraordinary. It is surely leading healthcare to its new and proper destination."e;

A practical strategy for transforming the UK and other healthcare systems... offering an affordable, sustainable and compassionate alternative to the present mess.

From a top healthcare futurist, frontline innovator, and Deloitte consultant comes a bold new vision for Humanizing Healthcare—hardwiring humanity at every point of care—that is good for people and good for business. Our nation’s healthcare and life science industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades—and not always for the better. In addition to rising costs and access challenges, the current system has caused needless suffering for patients and clinicians alike: physically, emotionally, financially, and socially. There have been numerous efforts to overhaul the system, but nothing has yet cured healthcare of its illnesses. In Humanizing Healthcare, paramedic-turned-physician executive and Deloitte Managing Director Summer Knight draws on her years of experience on the frontlines of healthcare to offer a powerful road map for real reform. Her refreshingly human approach to transforming our healthcare system provides practical strategies to: Identify core problems in the current system—and find the best workable solutions. Combine healthcare with social services—and build stronger networks of support. Use digital technology and virtual visits to provide expert care at lower costs. Empower healthcare consumers to make smarter choices in their treatment and purchasing options. Form therapeutic alliances between the clinical team (physicians and staff) and the home team (family and friends). Build a solid foundation for ongoing improvements that are truly sustainable, affordable, and humane. This is a clear, compassionate guide to how the industry can transform to embody a more human perspective and use it as a collective north star that will positively impact all stakeholders—consumers, providers, caregivers, staff, executives, shareholders, and the government—alike. Most importantly, this book will open your eyes to what’s possible when you create high-quality, deeply felt alliances that deliver consumer-driven care with value to all. Humanizing Healthcare is the future of health.

Humanising Mental Health Care in Australia is a unique and innovative contribution to the healthcare literature that outlines the trauma-informed approaches necessary to provide a more compassionate model of care for those who suffer with mental illness. The impact of abuse and trauma is frequently overlooked in this population, to the detriment of both individual and society. This work highlights the importance of recognising such a history and responding humanely. The book explores the trauma-informed perspective across four sections. The first outlines theory, constructs and effects of abuse and trauma. The second section addresses the effects of abuse and trauma on specific populations. The third section outlines a diverse range of individual treatment approaches. The final section takes a broader perspective, examining the importance of culture and training as well as the organisation and delivery of services. Written in an accessible style by a diverse group of national and international experts, Humanising Mental Health Care in Australia is an invaluable resource for mental health clinicians, the community managed and primary health sectors, policy makers and researchers, and will be a helpful reference for people who have experienced trauma and those who care for them.

What is the golden standard of healthcare today? It's an important question. As a medical professional, you operate in a more disconnected environment than your predecessors. Compliance standards and excessive documentation keep you in front of computers instead of patients, and low reimbursement rates mean packing the day with appointments and sacrificing quality of care. Dr. Larry Benz is finding ways to humanize healthcare again. In Called to Care, he shows you how to ignore constraints and build quality connections by treating patients as people, not numbers. He and his team know that patients who feel heard are more engaged in their treatment; more patient engagement equals better outcomes for everyone. Dr. Benz helps you reach new heights as a provider by helping you break out of your current cycle, renew your purpose, and improve the patient experience. This is a book about reconnection. Find out how to reclaim your compassion, restore your patient relationships, and revive your calling.

This book explores, in depth, the link between modern psychiatric practice and the person-centred approach. It promotes an open dialogue between traditional rivals – counsellors and psychiatrists within the NHS – to assist greater understanding and improve practice. Easy to read and comprehend, it explains complex issues in a clear and accessible manner. The author is a full-time psychiatrist and qualified counsellor who offers a unique perspective drawing on personal experience. Humanising Psychiatry and Mental Health Care will be of significant interest and help to all mental health professionals including psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses, social care workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, person-centred counsellors and therapists. Health and social care policy makers and shapers, including patient groups, will also find it helpful and informative.

Health care regulatory agencies demand that patients receive efficient, competent, compassionate care; however, because of caregivers' own unhealed issues along with other factors, care often falls short of those goals. Melanie Sears, RN, MBA, PhD, leverages more than thirty years of nursing experience to look at what really prevents patients from getting the care they need and health care workers from getting the support needed to thrive in the stressful environment of health care. From domination-style management, fear and judgment-based practitioner relationships, and a poignant separation between physical, mental, and emotional care, the costs of these factors are enormous. Sears argues that the most effective way to evolve this problematic culture is to shift the language used by those providing care.