How Health Care Leaders Can Support Their Frontline Workers
The pandemic has taught us important lessons about the needs of the health care workforce More
12 Months of Trauma: More Than 3,600 US Health Workers Died in Covid’s First Year
More than 3,600 U.S. health care workers perished in the first year of the pandemic, according to “Lost on the Frontline,” a 12-month investigation by The Guardian and KHN to track such deaths. More
In memory of Bernard Lown
Dr. Bernard Lown was the best of his generation. Kind and wise. A listener, a thinker, a doer. A teacher and prodder. A challenger and inspirer. Impossible to equal. And impossible to ignore. More
One in 5 COVID-affected health workers weighs quitting: study
Childcare stressors, impact on careers, and more have affected healthcare workers. More
‘Pandemic grief’ proves especially devastating and complex for many in mourning, health experts say
Bereavement after a coronavirus death may be traumatically distorted by our enforced absence — not “being there” to offer an embrace to a dying loved one. More
‘Why do I put my life on the line?’ Pandemic trauma haunts health workers
The worst of the pandemic may be behind the country, but for front-line health workers the scars might take much longer to heal. More
The Costly, Painful, Lonely Burden of Care
Health care in the U.S. relies on an “invisible army” of caregivers — mostly women. For many, stunted careers, lost earnings and exhaustion are part of the fallout. More
Obituary: Bernard Lown
“Bernard's achievements and example are really hard for any of us to meet, but that example inspires so many people to recognise what is possible,” said Vikas Saini, the President of the Lown Institute, in Boston, MA, USA. “His mantra was always: We need to take collective action. What are you doing with others to change things for the better?” “At the core of the mission was the belief that a holistic approach that incorporated the physician's presence, attention, and deep engagement with the entirety of the patient's lived experience was absolutely essential to heal patients,” Saini said. “Technology always came second. In later years we would adopt a motto reflecting this philosophy: “Do as much as possible for the patient and as little as possible to the patient.” “He showed all of us who are clinicians what it meant to be a healer and a citizen of the world,” Saini said. “He believed that medicine must exist beyond the clinic to be true to its highest calling. That came from his unwavering moral commitment to social justice and the radically better system of health that we must create to achieve it.” More
Over 1 in 5 health care workers experience depression and anxiety during the pandemic, study says
Health care workers in the Middle East faced the highest rates of depression and anxiety while workers in North America faced the lowest, a new study revealed. More
On Shame and Healing
The truths that lie beneath our loneliest year. More
I’m A Psychiatrist Who Treats Health Workers. A Year Into The Pandemic, We’re All Suffering From Burnout
About 50% of medical professionals were dealing with burnout before COVID-19, writes Dr. Jessi Gold. The pandemic has made it exponentially worse. More
The principles that drove Bernard Lown
In a profile in The BMJ, journalist Jeanne Lenzer highlights some of the important times Dr. Lown took a stand, and what this stubbornness cost him. More
Remembering Bernard Lown: physician, activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner
I have long thought that there are three types of physician. The first is fascinated by the intricacy and complexity of biomedical science. The second finds inspiration in the personal relationship between doctor and patient. The third is committed to the broader context of health, to social justice and to making the world a better place. These three groups have boundaries that are necessarily fuzzy, and many doctors belong to one or two of them. Very few belong unequivocally in all three. Bernard Lown, who died recently at age 99, was one of these. More
Nurses Are Barely Holding Themselves Together
Being a nurse was already hard. But in the pandemic, it’s become almost impossible. More
A Tribute to Bernard Lown
There are lessons for us all in the life and legacy of the renowned cardiologist and peace activist Bernard Lown, notes John Mandrola, MD. More
A Tribute to Bernard Lown
Lown touched my life through the Right Care Alliance—a sister organization of the Lown Institute. For a slow-adopting, skeptical medical conservative, the annual Lown meeting was nirvana. Lown meetings were the opposite of cardiology meetings. Cardiology conferences celebrate the science, congratulate the scientists, and promote the latest technology. Lown meetings tackled what is wrong with medicine: overdiagnosis, overtreatment, fractured specialty-centric care, biased evidence, and the crisis in end-of-life care. An invite to speak at Lown transformed my life. I couldn't believe this many people thought exactly as I do. I met clinicians, editors-in-chief, and researchers who study the state of medical evidence. My modest foray into academic work traces back to the connections I made. I now realize this was by design. Lown knew that bringing like-minded people together was vital. If somebody takes the initiative, others will see it and follow. A movement grows, then change happens. More
Effect of Layperson-Delivered, Empathy-Focused Program of Telephone Calls on Loneliness, Depression, and Anxiety Among Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This randomized clinical trial examines whether a layperson-delivered, empathy-focused program of telephone calls could rapidly improve loneliness, depression, and anxiety in at-risk adults. More
Caregivers are missing from the long Covid conversation
The U.S. health system is too overwhelmed to address long Covid. One asset is not being deployed against Covid-19: long-haulers' caregivers. More
Dr. Bernard Lown, creator of 1st effective heart defibrillator, dies at 99
Bernard Lown, MD, a renowned cardiologist who played a pivotal role in the development of the first reliable heart defibrillator, died Feb. 16. "Bernard Lown was one of the greatest physicians of the last, or any century, and I was privileged to call him my teacher, colleague and friend," said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that advocates for civic leadership and accountability in healthcare founded by Dr. Lown in 1973. "He showed us what it meant to be a healer and a citizen of the world. His commitment to social justice and a radically better healthcare system illuminated his belief that medicine must exist beyond the clinic to be true to its highest calling." More
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Bernard Lown Dies
A leading Harvard physician who shared in the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize has died at his home in Newton. The prize was for activism against nuclear weapons. But Dr. Bernard Lown had a vast array of accomplishments. Dr. Vikas Saini is a clinical cardiologist and president of the Lown Institute of Brookline. He joined WBUR's All Things Considered to explain why he believes Lown was one of the greatest physicians of all time. More