The irruption of COVID-19 had an impact on the health management model that brought with it an in-depth debate on the models in force in our system. Among other things, the overcrowding of health centers served to make visible the importance of mental health and well-being, strongly impacted by anxiety, stress and the uncertainty of the hardest moments of the pandemic, especially difficult in all linked spaces to health.
In this context, ISS, a leading company in the management of workplace and integration of services, has developed the project Health Wellness: a concept that aims to transcend the strictly healthcare field to look at how the health, experience and safety of patients and professionals can be improved from non-care actions, such as humanisation, the design of spaces or the work of cleaning services or maintenance.
In the words of José Enrique Aguilar, director of ISS Facility Services Spain, “the Health Well-being project was born with the desire to participate in the transformation of the health care paradigm, understanding this transformation as one of the collateral consequences of the pandemic and which, as we are seeing, continues to be on the table today political and social. We are convinced that this health and social context represents, among other things, a turning point in the assessment and care of services considered non-care”.
“At ISS we intend to transcend the strictly healthcare field to look at how the health, experience and safety of patients and healthcare professionals can be improved from non-care actions, which undoubtedly contribute to reducing the pressure on our healthcare system , just as we saw magnified during the pandemic ”adds Aguilar in this regard.
Thus, in the first place, the Health Well-being project puts on the table for political and social dialogue the importance of taking care of mental health and emotional well-being, especially impacted by anxiety, stress and uncertainty that occurs in spaces health and especially, in their professionals. And, secondly, the adoption of this model would make it possible to reduce hospital pressure through environments that facilitate the work of health professionals and the recovery of patients.
The humanization and ergonomics of healthcare spaces
One of the pillars on which the concept of Health Well-being developed by ISS is based is humanization in health environments, which must go beyond healthcare practice and rely on the training and specialization of the different teams that make up the health space. , understood as parts of a whole. These teams can belong to both public and private institutions or companies, with different corporate cultures, and carry out activities of a very diverse nature, providing maintenance, cleaning, medical care and nursing care services, etc. For all these reasons, it is essential that there be good communication, coordination and cooperation so that there is true synergy between the different care and non-care professionals for the benefit of the patient.
The key to implementing this humanization in the different teams is, therefore, to invest in continuous and transversal training, which not only outlines the competencies and procedures to be followed by each one, but also fosters that common space. of humanity. A training governed by strategies with two aspects, both technical and humanistic, that make the stay in the health center much more bearable. In this way, from ISS, “we consider that the humanization of work spaces should be one of the key levers for the retention of professionals and their emotional well-being, as well as for the recovery of patients.”
In addition, as a second pillar, from ISS they consider it essential that all the agents that participate in the humanization process “be aware that issues such as architecture, ergonomics and the design of interior spaces also have an important role in achieving the health welfare. Hospital managers pay more and more attention to these aspects. Noise reduction, the presence of natural light, the appropriate use of colours, or the creation of interior and exterior environments that recall natural spaces are some examples of this”.
Four fundamental pillars
In total, there are four key pillars around which ISS is going to develop the Health Well-being project in which it is working: Investment in the specialization of teams and training of professionals; take advantage of the benefits of the application of innovation and technology; prioritize the physical and emotional health of professionals and patients; and activate a new conception, design and management of healthcare spaces.
However, as its director explains, in order for this paradigm shift and these objectives to be met, “it is necessary to assume leadership positions, both from organizations such as ISS, and from the Administration, from where standards must be established that set criteria minimum to draw the horizons for the great challenges of the country. Only by thinking strategically can a resource priority be established”.
In short, “the Health Well-being project has enormous potential to have a positive impact on our society and, like any other great paradigm shift, it is accompanied by the equivalent doses of training and dissemination. In this sense, one of the first ways that we must intensify affects the correct training and dissemination of how to treat patients and focus on the problems and resistance that we are going to encounter” concludes Aguilar on behalf of ISS.
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