10th Session: The Network in Debate
“The Care of Professionals and Teams”
Barcelona, October 9, 2020
Last October 9, the 10th edition of "Xarxa a Debat" was held online, with the participation of over 130 professionals. The event featured three high-level professionals who presented communications rich in content and with complementary approaches. Finally, a Q&A session was opened.
José Leal He/She developed the concept of care from its anthropological foundations rooted in the original immaturity of human beings to the construction of a civic ethic based on the recognition of the dignity of others, welcome, and hospitality. Subsequently, and based on Foucault's claim of self-care as an ethical imperative, he/she transferred this to the ethics of responsibility in professional work, controlling tendencies such as narcissism, excessive expectations, and arrogant scientism. Finally, he/she advocated for the team as the true supporter of caregiving activities and for a good group climate as a container for individual discomfort. Therefore, teams must be cared for by institutions, which need to be “good enough,” using Winnicott's concept.
Enrico Mora Based on the transformation in mental health care in recent years, which has impacted the quality of work life for professionals. The data on emotional distress has been evident for some time and has been clearly objectified. In addition to the increase in demand, management styles with corporate parameters and biased quantitative assessment methods may have contributed. The concept of ethical stress was developed as a discrepancy between professional activity recognized as good practice and the reality of care, with the difficulty of addressing psychological distress caused by violence and social helplessness with massive prescription of psychotropic drugs and a uniform interpretation of symptoms. Based on these findings, research is being conducted on concrete practices, the dynamics that can address these difficulties and generate professional well-being.
Claudi Camps, Drawing from her own experience managing a large healthcare organization, she took on the challenge of summarizing the analysis of complex institutional realities, including their distortions and perversions, while highlighting the real possibilities for democratic transformation. Based on ethical values such as consistency and authenticity, and a preventative approach, it is necessary to promote transversal training within teams and create spaces for sincere reflection. This can help prevent demotivation and feelings of alienation among professionals through genuine participation, by granting autonomy to teams and also integrating the opinions of users and families. It is also important to adopt a preventative approach to conflicts within teams and to be able to assess the emotional climate.
After the plenary session, we organized ourselves into three discussion groups to foster debate, exchange, and deeper exploration of the various topics announced.
In the coming weeks, we expect to have a summary document of conclusions and recommendations from the conference.
Albert Mariné
Member of the Board of Directors of the Catalan Congress of Mental Health Foundation and member of the organizing committee of the "La Xarxa a Debat" Conference.
