Inaugural lecture prof. dr. Christiaan Boerma: meaningful preventive care

Christiaan Boerma advocates for

good conversations in healthcare

Alarm bells are constantly ringing in healthcare, but we can use this compelling reality to return to the core: having the good conversation. This says Prof Christiaan Boerma, who delivered his inaugural lecture on 4 October 2024 ( read the full text ) at the University of Groningen where he holds the chair of Meaningful Preventive Care.

‘In healthcare, the well-being of fellow humans should be central,’ Boerma explains. 'Health is important in that, but as part of a bigger picture. This way, we avoid unnecessary care that does not contribute much to the patient's well-being. Living six weeks longer at 86 is less important to most people than spending the last days of your life without pain and in the presence of your family.'

Better care

According to Prof Christiaan Boerma, doctors and nurses also need scope to prevent harm from complications. For example, by preventing treatment for which it is not known whether it will really work or where the remedy is worse than the disease. This is expected to save money but also help increase job satisfaction. However, another form of funding should be then looked at.

Reimbursement

Health insurers actually reimburse short consultations in which there is no time for having a good conversation. Doctors prescribe and treat, the patient undergoes. If we want to provide meaningful care and thus breathe more air into the system, it helps if health insurers allocate more money for these consultations, advocates Prof Christiaan Boerma.

Meaningful preventive care

The special chair Meaningful preventive care was established by the Top Clinical Care Foundation Fryslân. In it, Medisch Centrum Leeuwarden and University of Groningen/Campus Fryslân work together on research that focuses on meaningful care for patients, contributes to solving staff shortages and to the affordability of healthcare. It's a win-win for everyone: care that matters to the patient, at lower cost and with less deployment of staff.

About Prof Christiaan Boerma

After a long career as an Intensive Care Specialist, Christiaan Boerma (1964) made the switch in 2020 to the MCL Academy where he is dean.This enables him to contribute to a good education and science climate for a new generation of healthcare workers, shifting the focus from treating diseases to positive health and well-being.

Want to know more? Read the interview (in Dutch) Is prevention really a hospital task by Gerard Akkerman of the Leeuwarden Medical Centre.