Integrated Health Professional (IHP)

Introduction:

The ABCD (Attitude, Behaviour, Compassion and Dialogue) of dignity-conserving care is a fundamental tool for use by healthcare professionals (HPCs) to establish empathy with patients and to uphold human dignity (Chochinov, 2007: 184). These 4 key elements will be discussed with reference to the given scenario. The importance of establishing empathy with patients, and how the ABCD aids this, will be outlined. My own thoughts and self-reflection in response to the scenario will be discussed and the process of becoming a future Integrated Health Professional (IHP) will be considered. The ABCD:

A HCP’s care should not only be centred on patients’ conditions, but should be holistic and include parameters such as patients’ emotional/spiritual

These ideas may not, however, accurately depict how a patient perceives his own situation (Chochinov, 2007: 185). HCPs should avoid making assumptions about patients’ feelings, and should rather question them with sensitivity and care. They should subsequently actively partake in self-reflection and ask themselves how they would feel in their patients’

The aim is to create a professional who is empathetic, accountable and self-aware. The Knowledge dimension emphasises the practice of life-long learning and skills development. It also requires the acquisition of knowledge about cultural and socio-economic situations within the professional’s region. The Empathetic dimension centres around identifying with patients’ situations and develops from a professional’s understanding of academic knowledge, his/her own self-awareness and of patients’ perspectives (Olckers, Gibbs & Duncan, 2007: 3). The Reflective dimension involves internal and external self-assessment of previous experiences to allow for personal and professional growth (Olckers, Gibbs & Duncan, 2007: 4). This developing self-awareness enables a professional to make informed decisions (Hoffman,