Caring for those who care – 03/23/2024 – Tech

We live in a time of unprecedented crisis related to mental health and the construction of a welcoming society, capable of adapting to help those who are experiencing difficulties.

The situation is very serious and even affects the mental health of doctors, who are the first people to be sought out by those who need help. But someone needs to take care of those who take care of everyone, right?

The data is alarming. According to the Mental Health Panorama survey, carried out by the Afya research center, 46% of doctors have or have already been diagnosed with depression, 47% with anxiety disorder and 62% with burnout syndrome.

The reality of doctors in Brazil and around the world is constantly impacted by a toxic culture that is wreaking havoc on the lives of those we trust most when asking for help. The good news is that technological advances can change this unfavorable scenario, but we will need a good dose of awareness in society to get there.

The list of solutions discussed in the SXSW 2024 mental health track panels includes the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to help take the burden of filling out paperwork on these professionals, a known very stressful factor.

It is estimated that 30% of doctors’ time during clinical practice is spent on bureaucracy, tasks that AI could take over quickly and efficiently, freeing them to care for their patients.

Other technologies can also contribute to a less stressful medical practice: virtual libraries assisted by artificial intelligence will allow doctors to establish diagnoses in a more assertive way, also alleviating the pressure of the extreme responsibility of having someone’s life in their hands and preventing errors or exams unnecessary; Telemedicine, complemented by data captured by gadgets and cell phone applications that detect changes in skin color, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and others, will allow for greater efficiency in remote healthcare, reducing hospitalizations.

Healthcare is undergoing a technological revolution, but a shift in mindset needs to happen for the benefits to have a significant effect on the doctor and their mental health.

How can a doctor maintain quality of life when the average working time of the class is 52.5 hours per week, with 25% working more than 60 hours per week (according to the Afya survey)?

Consequently, these professionals’ adherence to good lifestyle habits is low, which, ironically, they themselves recommend: 65% declare that they do not maintain a restful sleep routine of at least 6 to 8 hours, 67% do not have a leisure routine and 71 % do not practice physical activity.

Doctors assume that excessive working hours and lack of time are the main stressors that lead to burnout syndrome, but they do not seem to move to change this situation.

According to the doctor and director of the Afya research center, Dr. Eduardo Moura, “the great truth is that in medicine there is a culture that values ​​the workaholic professional, in which having free time to take care of oneself and have quality of life is seen as weakness, as laziness, as a lack of engagement in work, while professionals boast about the heavy routine they lead, cultivated as a sign of social status, a super professional who can handle everything and face everything”.

According to the doctor, the job market itself creates the right context for this, given that there is no shortage of job opportunities and doctors can work as much as they want or as much as they need to keep their cost of living high.

Employers also contribute to this culture, rewarding professionals who are most committed to working hours with the institution and providing an environment in which the professionals themselves see it as inappropriate to reduce their workload to prioritize health and well-being.

My vision as a woman and mother calls for broad support networks capable of protecting this layer of society that is absolutely essential for everyone.

Perhaps some kind of rule of conduct could be implemented to shield doctors. Something similar to what happens with airline pilots, who have a limit on flying hours per week due to the risk that exhaustion poses to passenger safety.

Doctors could also benefit from a similar limit on working hours, to ensure the safety of patients and their own health, while a new mindset is being built.

But, for a change in mentality to actually occur and a new paradigm to be installed, society would need to free itself from the focus on high productivity that has taken over all professions, and is even taught from an early age in schools and encouraged by all media. In other words… the hole is lower.