Yesterday in London I received my medallion and officially became a Churchill Fellow. I’m thrilled, and still taking it in.
My Fellowship project, ‘Dialogues about Dying: Tools for Preventing Conflict in Palliative Care’, took me to India and Peru, and to South Africa virtually, to learn how families, clinicians and communities talk about dying and disagree about care.
The many kind people who gave me their time and wisdom are at the heart of my Fellowship experience. To my hosts, interviewees and new friends: thank you so very much for your generosity, your candour and your hospitality. I learned far more than I expected.
Grateful thanks to the organisations that generously helped connect me with the experts and community members in the local communities: Sacred Valley Health (Peru), Conflict Dynamics (South Africa), Mediators Beyond Borders International and Pallium India.
My heartfelt thanks too to the Churchill Fellowship and Marie Curie UK for making it all possible, and congratulations to the other Fellows who received medallions alongside me. It was a privilege to be in the room with you.
What I found is set out in my report, Dialogues About Dying. One finding stood out – a real appetite for preventing conflict in health and care, and for a neutral person, outside both the clinical team and any legal process, who can help people find a way through. That finding is what led me and collaborators to create Health and Care Mediation.
Its aim is to make mediation a normal part of resolving disagreements in health and care, and in the workplaces that support them. It’s early days, and I’d welcome your thoughts.
This Churchill Fellowship journey continues!
#Mediation #NHS #HealthcareDisputes #ASC #Conflictresolution #ChurchillFellow2024