Humanising Healthcare
Our Story
The future of healthcare needs to be more effective and human if it is going to be sustainable.
We started out as a student society based in Glasgow trying to help 'humanise' medical education. We are now a Community Interest Company, with projects at universities throughout Scotland, still trying to humanise medical education and to help build healthy communities.
Our Philosophy:
Humans and our societies are too complex for one-size-fits-all medicine. Humanising Healthcare is about considering what it means to be human and what kind of care and spaces we need to live healthily, to flourish as individuals and communities, and to heal from disease.
Despite the many wonders of modern medicine, patients and doctors are suffering in an unsustainable healthcare paradigm. Chronic diseases are rife, putting a huge amount of pressure on an already overloaded system. Burn-out rates in doctors are at a record high, one of many factors contributing to junior doctor strikes, and the poor mental health of medical students is a huge concern.
Humanising Healthcare offers space for thinkers, educators and change-makers to work towards a better future of medicine. Together, we harness the disillusionment and frustration often felt by people in the health system, and transform it into meaningful work. Instead of brushing ideas and feelings aside, we listen and collaborate creatively to find long-lasting solutions for health workers and our system as a whole.
We look closely at the aspects of medical education and healthcare delivery systems that contribute to three interralated problems:
1. The number people suffering from multiple chronic diseases living on multiple long term medications
2. The number of trained doctors and nurses looking to escape the UK's healthcare system and work abroad
3. The number of medical students uninspired by their training, losing their spark and experiencing depression and anxiety as a result.
Our projects seek to tackle these issues at their root cause. A medical school or workplace should not be an environment in which people neglect their mental health and consequently burn out. It should be a place of nourishment and growth, a place with heart and soul that seeks to support each and every person within it - both patients and providers.
We want to empower students, healthcare professionals and communities to become healthier, and sustain a sense of well-being.
We also want to help them to:
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Cultivate compassion and creative thinking
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Be connected to their local community and know how to practice social prescribing
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Consider the sociological and commercial determinants to health
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Learn effective study methods to free up time for personal development
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Practice 'Root Cause Care'
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Examine the philosophy of health
You can find out more about how we support medical students and healthcare professionals by looking at the projects we run.
Our Team
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Hugo Jobst, founder of Humanising Healthcare
Hugo Jobst
Hugo founded Humanising Healthcare while studying medicine at the University of Glasgow. As a student, he recognised a number of gaps, redundancies and inefficiencies in the medical curriculum, which he felt explained much of the burnout and disillusionment he saw in fellow students. For Hugo, these negative aspects of the medical education system also affects patients, often prescribed drug after drug for diseases that could be prevented or possibly reversed through patient education and lifestyle interventions. A different approach could not only lead to cures, but also to an improved quality of life for patients, empowered to help themselves and learn to heal. This ‘Root Cause Care Model’, which is central to the Humanising Healthcare philosophy, is key to the sustainability of a medical system. However, it is yet to be taught in medical schools, a key reason as to why Hugo founded Humanising Healthcare in 2021. Since then, it has developed from a space where students could connect to their values and purpose and understand what kind of doctors society needs, and become a collaborative community, not only for students but also for educators and qualified professionals.
Seonaid Anderson, Conversation Café Co-lead
Seonaid Anderson
Seonaid is a Consultant Addictions Psychiatrist who works with a community addictions team in NHS Tayside. She is also a member of the only Alcohol Care Team in Scotland. Alcohol Care Teams provide specialist expertise and interventions for alcohol dependent patients and those with alcohol-related complications. Seonaid teaches undergraduates at the University of Dundee Medical School and for the last three years, she has been involved in setting up and delivering Conversation Cafés with Humanising Healthcare in several Scottish Medical Schools.
Allan Houston
Allan is a senior addictions social worker at Glasgow City Council’s Alcohol and Drugs Recovery Services. Like others in the service, he uses his own Lived Experience of addiction and recovery to help others on their journey. Alongside his social work case-load, he is actively involved in community recovery groups, including a weekly mindfulness meditation session in Glasgow. He became involved with Humanising Healthcare’s Conversation Café project in 2021 as a crucial link to the flourishing communities of people in recovery around Scotland.
Allan Houston, Conversation Café Co-Lead