This is the seventeenth #WILTW

This week Alys Cole-King went on a 24 hour tweetathon in aid of world suicide prevention day. She used the hashtag #connectedwith aiming to “raise awareness that strong relationships, connectedness and a sense of belonging are powerful protective factors against suicide. “

She also wrote a great blog on the importance of friends and family and how easy it is to sacrifice this in trying to be supportive to the patients and colleagues you work with. It is a theme that has run since her NHS Change Day pledge. It is very well timed as on the other side of the planet Mike Cadogan has written on very similar themes as part of a personal reflection on the challenges he has faced in delivering the #FOAMed movement. “Family comes first” his first of 5 lesson learnt.

Being connected with people is a very easy thing to think you are doing when in fact you are not. It has been a painful process but I am now all too aware of times when I haven’t actually been truly engaged with people close to me.  At times this may have led to active antagonism with no insight at all on my behalf that this was happening. I do my best to always be utterly honest with the problems or issues I may be bringing to a discussion. Unfortunately too often there is little time to sit down with people, catch up and actually listen to the issues at stake. We work in health care environments in which time spent in the cafeteria may be seen as being work shy as opposed to being engaged. Its clearly not an easy think to balance but true connection is something I really hope to work on.

What did you learn this week? #WILTW