Title: JOY AT WORK - the WHAT, the WHY and the HOW of self-care and self-compassion for the MEDICAL PROFESSION using the L.I.F.E.S.T.Y.L.E FIRST Method

Biography:

  Alka   Patel   is   a   GP,   Health   Coach   and   Lifestyle   Medicine Physician  in  the  UK.  She  is  a  Regional  Director  of  the  British Society  of  Lifestyle  Medicine,  a  Member  of  the  Royal  College  of GPs  Wellbeing  Committee  and  a  GP  for  the  Practitioner  Health Service  providing  a  confidential  service  to  doctors  and  dentist suffering with significant mental health issues and addictions. 

Abstract

Joy at work is about meaning and purpose and connection and ensuring that caring and healing, which is the essence of what physicians do, is a naturally joyful activity. And it centre’s on realising the critical value of self-care and self-compassion.

Medicine is an incredibly rewarding profession but the pressures can sometimes be too hard to bear and the question that remains is how can you circumvent these pressures and avoid the burnout and mental decline that affects so many?

We need to value and prioritise our own self-care and self- compassion as a profession and consider joy at wok to be an essential, not a luxury item. 

The most joyful people at work are the most productive and engaged and feel both physically and psychologically safe, appreciate the meaning and purpose of their work, have some choice and control over their time, experience camaraderie with others at work, and perceive their work life to be fair and equitable.

So how do you get to be that person?

Here is the  toolkit -The L.I.F.E.S.T.Y.L.E First Method® - a blueprint founded in research and literature that takes you through the 10 key determinants of health and happiness, and hence the 10 areas of focus for wellness and joy at work

L: LIFE – What is your life purpose, the central motivating aim of

your life, the reason you get up in the morning?

I: IDENTITY – What is your identity – the strong daily affirmation

that  links closely with your behaviours?

F : FOOD – What eating practices are embedded at work?

E : EXERCISE – What opportunities for movement and exercise

would you enjoy and benefit from at work?. 

SLEEP – What prevents you from gaining 8h of optimal sleep?

T  :  TIME  OUT  –  What  opportunities  for  reflective  space  do  you

have in your day?

Y  :  YOUR  TRIBE  –  What  level  of  social  connectivity  exists  as  a 

direct link to longevity, health and happiness?

L : LEARN HABITS – What daily routines in the workplace align to

wellbeing?                                                       

E : EMOTIONAL WELLBEING – What takes place in the workplace

to recognise and reduce stress and foster positivity?