1st
International Workshop
Modern
Asclepieions: Health <-> Culture
Notes
on Lecture Content
Opening Ceremony
Several high-ranking officials from the Ministries of Health and Welfare, Culture and Environment, Natural Planning and Public Works as well as from various relevant institutions will be invited to address the participants.
Keynote addresses
The first keynote address will be from a WHO official who will speak about the Health priorities for the 21 st Century (i.e. Agenda 21)
Session 1 / The Health Viewpoint
Needs
and Requirements
Citizens as well as health professionals have particular needs and requirements that must be addressed by public and/or private services. How the needs can be described as requirements? Medical services must be available to those in need, in a seamless and cost effective way. But health is not he absence of illness as WHO defined. Are our systems ready and efficient in covering these requirements? Do the citizens have the entire mesh of services at their disposal at any time? Is it necessary to transform the existing systems? Is it possible technically and financially?
Information,
Access, Trust and Comprehension
Citizens are educated to be able to understand and process information. What is the background a citizen must have to be able to access, understand, process, evaluate and use the information? Citizens find themselves increasingly swimming in an ocean of information without guidance and, in many cases, the signs are misinterpreted or the gatekeepers and the societal models are intentionally working against their interests. What should be done in order to use the information in an optimal way?
Can
Culture Improve Health (the role of Quality)
What is culture and what is its
role to the well-being of the citizens? Can culture contribute to the
implementation of the WHO definition of ‘health’? Should we include welfare
activities in culture? If yes, what should we do to teach our children and to
facilitate activities by fellow citizens to help alleviate the difficult
situations in which they find themselves. All citizens are fond of quality and
are seeking a ‘quality label’ on products and services. How can culture
improve the quality of health, the quality of cultural products, the quality of
our actions and behaviour?
New
Dimensions in Education
The majority of European citizens are receiving more that 12 years of compulsory education. Several programmes and a lot of funds are directed towards new forms of education (like continuous education) and in job training activities, education in new technologies and familiarisation of use of new tools and technologies. Several countries including the most successful and advanced ones are re-examining their educational systems and are working out new strategies for improved educational outcomes. Is the school system and/or the centrally organised educational activities the only place and the only activities where the citizens must resort to?
New
R&D Activities
It is a human endeavour to seek new knowledge and to use it to create new technological achievements for the benefit of mankind. New knowledge has helped many fellow citizens to overcome errors of nature, accidents of life, to prolong life and improve quality of life. All these have of course provoked also negative implications. The issue here is not to embark in a philosophical discussion. Accepting the fact new that knowledge is necessary for the well-being of citizens and the improvement of society, we must find ways to facilitate the R&D activities in health and culture.
The
New Services
What kinds of services are available today to the citizens? Are they
adequate? Is the way they are delivered efficient and suitable for the purpose
they have been created for? Is there equity of access? Is the quality adequate?
It is true that the services are variable in type, effectiveness, efficiency and
broadness in different countries. What kind of services does the citizens need
today? How can they be delivered to them?
General
Discussion on topics of Session 1
Session 2 / The Culture Viewpoint
What
Ancient Asclepieions Teach Us
Greek History / Mythology gave to us extraordinary treasures in concepts, implementation, artefacts, architecture, scientific approach and knowledge, environmental sensitivity and protection / preservation, natural resources management, culture, welfare, etc. etc. Why did all these happened? What conditions (mythical, philosophical, social) had occurred at these times? Is all that something that cannot happen again? Do we exaggerate? And if yes what can we be taught and what can we do to try to match or approach these great achievements?
The
Role of Culture
What exactly is the role for
culture in our societies? Economic factors play a more and more important role
in our lives and societies. All the prototypes point towards this direction.
People and especially children are bombarded daily by this kind of
‘propaganda’. Success has become synonymous to wealth.
Are we in the right track? Do we have to rethink the course of our
“sailing”? What should we do?
Participation
and Creation
The joy, the sense of fulfilment
and the satisfaction from participation and creation are great and encourage
everyone for better, further and more important achievements. Modern
Asclepieions want to provide the most challenging environment to permit the
citizens to demonstrate their creativity, ingenuity, innovativeness, humanism,
support, and solidarity, in a few words, their human qualities. Many citizens do
not have the resources, the facilities or the encouragement to do so. Can an
Asclepieion be their haven? Can we invent ways to encourage participation and
contribution?
Is
Health part of Culture?
One view is that health is a prerequisite for culture. Ancient Asclepieions were places where health was the driving force for the achievements in culture. Modern Asclepieions will be places were health and culture must de promoted in parallel and in harmony. Is there a dilemma in front of us? What are there implications by accepting the WHO definition for health? Irrespective of the viewpoint, what are the implications by accepting that health is part of culture?
The
Forgotten Social Responsibilities
Modern cities and societies face more and more difficult problems that
are aggravated by poor education, adequate living resources, joblessness, great
expectations, bad examples and absence of prototypes. People are becoming more
individualistic and seek to improve their condition and their entourage even at
the expense of public resources, public interests and societal solidarity.
Individualism is becoming the dominant philosophy. Arrogance and “bulimia”
for material possessions are becoming more and more evident. What are our social
responsibilities, given the fact that we use and consume natural resources,
public goods and services?
Health
<-> Culture: A Two Way Relationship
Modern Asclepieions are based on the concept that there is a bi-directional relationship between Health and Culture. This relationship is not obvious. It must be discussed, elaborated, described, confronted, argued for or against. It is dynamic by its very nature. It cannot be confined or frozen. It must be a lively relationship, ready and able to take new forms and shapes and content in different times, different societies. At the same time should this relationship serve as a foundation and always be present in out thinking? Must it work like a lighthouse showing us the direction?
General Discussion on topics of Session 2
Session 3 / The Society Viewpoint
Empowerment
of Citizen
The
majority of the systems created and operated for the benefit of the citizens are
mainly serving the interests of those employed for their functioning. The
citizen is the subject. Is bureaucracy in reign? Is it is also the rein for
creative adventures?. How can the citizen be empowered? What does it mean? Are
we serious about it? Do we need it? Do se want it? What is exactly needed?
The
New Environment
We
live in a constructed environment. We seek peace and strength by escaping to the
natural environment whenever possible. For may of the citizens of our world this
is just a utopia. Can we make the constructed environment better, more
appealing, more friendly? Can we improve our quality of life? How? What should
be the innovations in a modern Asclepieion? Can we produce something as a
prototype? Can we improve the situations in existing places?
Shaping
a New Consciousness: The Role of Intellectuals
Assuming we create Modern Asclepieions – a new culture. What is the role of intellectuals? What is most important ideas or resources?
Shaping
a New Consciousness: The Role of Health Professionals
Assuming we create Modern Asclepieions – a new culture. What is the role of health professionals? Are they just professionals? Do they have other roles to fulfil? Are they fulfilling the role of Asclepiads or it is a utopia? Can we really leave our health to the health professionals or we should be involved more energetically and seek to define better terms for the citizen-health professional relationship? What is the role of trust between patient and health professional? Do we have to do something about it?
Session
3 Part II
Shaping
a New Consciousness: The Role of Citizens
Assuming
we create Modern Asclepieions - a new culture. What is the role of a better
educated, better informed, more knowledgeable, more cultivated, more sociable.
How can we help the citizens to improve their human qualities?
Shaping
a New Consciousness: The Role of Administration
Assuming
we create Modern Asclepieions-the new culture. What is the role of the
administration as a system, as an ensemble of persons all dealing with fellow
citizens? How can they participate to this new consciousness? Do we need less or
more administration, less or more bureaucracy, few or more rules, less or more
policing, less or more ethical and/or legal responsibility?
What
Specifications for Modern Asclepieions
Having
discussed all the issues raised during the 3 day Workshop it is time to give a
presentation on the general specifications pertaining to a Modern Asclepieion.
These specifications must be quite general so they become applicable to any
place, any country and any time. Creating
a Modern Asclepieion would then be a mater of applying the general
specifications and adding those that are relevant to the particular conditions
pertaining to the local environment. It must be possible to link all Modern
Asclepieions in a network. Competition on creativity, achievements and quality
of products and services must be encouraged.
General Discussion on topics of Session 3
Closing
Ceremony
The
Way Forward
Returning
back home every participant must feel that he/she has in his/her luggage a
document describing the strategy for the necessary R&D activities that will
facilitate the creation and the efficient functioning of Modern Asclepieions.
The strategy will be shaped during the works of the Workshop and will be
presented to the participants for approval.
It
would then be desirable to express the intention for follow-up joint actions on
the RD& aspects of Modern Asclepieions.
The
Epidauros / Athens Declaration
The
organisers will prepare a document that will carry the title ‘The Epidauros or
Athens or Epidauros / Athens Declaration’. The aim is to set up a network of
scholars from all over the world willing to promote the concepts and ideas of
Modern Asclepieions. The declaration will be the Constitution of the
International Movement on Modern Asclepieions. Ever person or institution that
will want to participate must accept, sign, observe and protect its provisions.