The workshop ‘Management responses to violence against healthcare workers’ will delve into protective measures and prevention policies that aim to educate health workers and raise awareness on the topic through public engagement and research. As healthcare professionals play a vital role in systems’ resilience and sustainability, addressing this pressing issue has become a priority in health management. Health management stakeholders outlined this need in a commentary[1] released in December 2022.
Incidences of violence against health professionals are on the rise, happening both in-person and online, with up to 38% of the health workforce being exposed to physical violence during their career, according to the World Health Organisation[2]. Verbal abuse from patients and visitors is also a common occurrence. Despite the significant risks this poses to public health and healthcare systems, the issue of violence against healthcare workers has received inadequate attention at European and international policy levels.
Six months after its release, the commentary takes on a new dimension by reconvening authors in a workshop to interactively identify sustainable solutions with health managers in the audience. Through dialogue and collaboration, participants will identify strategies to protect healthcare workers, create a safer environment for patients, and ensure the sustainability of healthcare systems.
This session will feature Dr Michelle Falkenbach, Technical Officer at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; Ellen McCourt, MD, Medical Doctor in Emergency Medicine; Ms Zoi Mylona, Programme Manager at the European Health Management Association; and Mr Rolf-André Oxholm, Member of the Board of the Norwegian Nurses Organisation. Dr Ellen Kuhlmann, President of the Health Workforce Research Section at the European Public Health Association; and Dr Marius I. Ungureanu, MD, Chair of the Department of Public Health at the Babeș-Bolyai University, will facilitate the discussion.
We encourage you to check out the #EHMA2023 programme here and discover the over 50 sessions we have this year. Register before Friday, 26 May here to secure your spot at this significant conversation.
[1] Ellen Kuhlmann, Monica Georgiana Brînzac, Katarzyna Czabanowska, Michelle Falkenbach, Marius-Ionut Ungureanu, George Valiotis, Tomas Zapata, Jose M Martin-Moreno, Violence against healthcare workers is a political problem and a public health issue: a call to action, European Journal of Public Health, Volume 33, Issue 1, February 2023, Pages 4–5, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckac180
[2] World Health Organisation, Preventing violence against health workers, March 2023