'If...we feel better able to express and explore who we are, we may find that our health practice can also become a 'self-practice' in which we can create healthier existences for ourselves too. At the heart of it all communication is the search for brighter light, for insight, even for enlightenment. Insight illuminates darkness, listening fosters understanding, and speaking helps dispel the seeds of despair. That is the virtuous cycle that lies at the heart of effective practice.' Justin Amery This extraordinary new series fills a void in practitioner development and well-being. The books take a reflective step back from the tick-box, target-driven and increasingly regulated world of 21st century health practice; and invite us to revisit what health and health practice actually are. Building carefully on the science and philosophy of health, each book addresses the messy, complex and often chaotic world of real-life health practice and offers an ancient but now almost revolutionary understanding for students and experienced practitioners alike: that health practice is a fundamentally creative and compassionate activity. The series as a whole helps practitioners to redefine and recreate their daily practice in ways that are healthier for both patients and practitioners. The books provide a welcome antidote to demoralisation and burn-out amongst practitioners, reversing cynicism and reviving our feeling of pride in, and our understanding of, health practice. By observing practice life through different lenses, they encourage the development of efficiency, effectiveness and, above all, satisfaction. The Integrated Practitioner: Co-creating in Health Practice is the second book in the series. It focuses on communication and considers the unusual but highly powerful relationship between physicians and patients within which 'better health' is 'co-created'. It offers new ideas on various ways of communicating in practice that inspire healthier and happier existences for both patients and practitioners. Brilliantly written, practitioners, students and trainees and GP trainers will find the enlightening, witty, conversational style a joy to read.
