Flourishing in Health Care

Area of Science:

• Philosophy of Medicine
• Healthcare Ethics
• Existential Psychology

Background:

• Existing concepts like happiness and well-being inadequately capture human vulnerability.
• Healthcare provision requires a nuanced understanding of patient and carer flourishing.
• The concept of flourishing offers a unique perspective on the human condition within healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define flourishing in a way that is applicable to healthcare settings.
• To explore the role of vulnerability in achieving flourishing.
• To provide a framework for fostering flourishing in patients, carers, and institutions.

Main Methods:

• Philosophical analysis drawing on existentialist thought (Heidegger) and capabilities approach (Nussbaum).
• Conceptual exploration of 'flourishing' in relation to autonomy, contingency, and narrative.
• Application of the concept to the experience of illness and healthcare provision.

Main Results:

• Flourishing is defined as the imaginative and creative engagement with human vulnerability and life's contingencies.
• Illness, by highlighting vulnerability, can be a catalyst for reflection and narrative sense-making.
• Telling a life story that realistically engages with suffering is central to flourishing.

Conclusions:

• A narrative-based understanding of flourishing is crucial for effective healthcare.
• Healthcare should support patients and carers in constructing meaningful life narratives amidst vulnerability.
• Fostering flourishing enhances the well-being of individuals and the integrity of caring institutions.