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HEALTH CARE
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Mindfulness is very much about empowering people to support their own
health and well-being in the context of community.
“It is when we start acknowledging our own perception, the
lens through which we see things, that the shift can potentially occur,” says Dr. Chakravarti. “It’s being aware of what’s
happening for us, not only in our cognitions but in our emotions and our sensations. Paying attention cultivates the
possibility, as we become aware, to not react to that stimulus whether it’s internal or it’s external, but to choose a response.”
Practising mindfulness in medicine has been gaining momentum in the research world over the last several years
and preliminary results show a link between the practice of
mindfulness and decreased burnout, increased compassion
and empathy (Krasner & Epstein, JAMA 2009). Medical student participants have also reported significant improvement in mood states and lower psychological distress compared with controls (Rosenzweig et al., Teach Learn Med.
2003).
With such promising indications for improving both physician health and patient care, Dr. Chakravarti is working
with various partners including the SMA Physician Health
Program, the Saskatoon Health Region, and the University
of Saskatchewan, to bring mindfulness to the medical community in Saskatchewan. She is the founder and CEO of [M]
Power: Mindful Professional Practice, which offers introductory mindfulness workshops for professionals in Health and
Human Services.
The gold standard in mindfulness training is Mindfulness
Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), an eight week course that
teaches formal and informal mindfulness meditation practices and includes three hours class time per week, daily
one hour “homework” and a one day silent retreat. While
intensive, MBSR is the most comprehensive course and
yields the most benefit to participants. Mindfulness courses
are already being offered in medical schools and health care
centres around the world including Harvard, Duke, McGill,
Dalhousie, and the Universities of Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Toronto.
half day workshops that are offered through the Saskatoon
Health Region and the University of Saskatchewan. In it they
will learn strategies and techniques that they can begin implementing in their daily lives immediately and if they find
it helpful, they can move on to the MBSR, which is now also
being offered in Saskatoon.
“It is not a magic bullet or miracle quick cure,” says Dr.
Chakravarti of mindfulness. “Daily practice is key.”
It is well worth the effort given its benefits to physician
health and well-being, impact on patient care and support
for the healthcare team. She also believes that it is important for the physician community to support each other in
working toward a whole and healthy life and promoting
changes in medical culture to support wellness initiatives.
“Mindfulness is very much about empowering people to
support their own health and well-being in the context of
community,” says Dr. Chakravarti. “There is a ‘we’ in wellness
and we need to collaborate to co-create a culture of wellbeing and connection.”
Interested in learning more?
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Try brief mindfulness exercises for yourself
on the Ontario Medical Association’s Mindfulness page:
http://php.oma.org/Mindfulness.html
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Contact Dr. Anita Chakravar Ѥ