New Paradigms in Healthcare

The book describes the experience of four Social Dreaming Matrices held online between March and May 2020, during the first lockdown caused by the Covid 19 emergency. The pandemic isolated us and imposed prolonged contact with ourselves and our solitary thoughts. Against this backdrop, there was hope for change, a desire for a different kind of sociability and different forms of intimacy. On the basis of this evidence, our research supports the shift "from experiencing trauma to reacting to trauma", looking at a collective traumatic experience not only as something to be overcome but as an opportunity for a transformation that changes our mental schemes in relation to the external context. We have identified Social Dreaming as a privileged technique to overcome a collective traumatic experience, supporting its elaboration through collective feelings, new connections between intuition and rational thought, the discovery of community meanings. The authors's thesis is that the much-needed transition from 'magical thinking' to 'transformative thinking' takes place in a setting that is able to contain the anxieties of life's transitional phases, supporting the creation of new rituals and new   social bonds and sustaining the passage from “me” to a “wider we”.

The Covid-19 pandemic and current international circumstances have left many individuals feeling vulnerable, both economically and psychologically. At the same time, pressure is put on healthcare systems, particularly in Europe, resulting in doctor shortages, heavy workloads, and low salaries for healthcare workers. Patients are experiencing longer waiting lists, shorter visiting times, and emergency rooms that underestimate patients' clinical problems. As a result, episodes of self-violence and violence resulting from different causes are happening more frequently, also in hospitals.

However, there is hope, and it starts with sharing our needs, thoughts, and feelings. This is where narrative medicine comes into play, as it helps bring stories to light, listen, ask open questions, analyze the spoken words, metaphors, and timing of communication, and promote a non-violent narrative. The key is to transition from violent to non-violent narratives and the consideration of relationship as a fundamental part of the therapeutic process, deserving an in-depth educational program. This is even more true if one considers that the ecosystem of health, together with the inclusion of diversity and the promotion of peace, is one of the main pillars of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This book aims to inspire care for one another through the narratives of people with disabilities, patients, nurses, doctors, students, carers, and individuals who meet otherness and resolve conflicts.