The NEBio (Centre for the Study of Bioethics) of the Portuguese Society of Internal Medicine (SPMI) will hold, next December 9, another webinar to discuss the ethical dimension of the relationship doctor/patient, this time dedicated to the prevention of traumatic/pathologic griefs. “Grief can be prepared: when and how to do it” is the motto for this initiative, organized by NEBio together with the Ethics Committee for Health (CES – Comissão de Ética para a Saúde) from Hospital da Luz Arrábida and the Ethics Committee for Health (CES) from the Higher School for Health of Santa Maria. “It is our obligation, as health professionals, to anticipate the possibility of losses associated with severe disease, in particular grief after death. The previous recommendation focused on the follow-up, proximity and family engagement is threatened by the recommendations of isolation determined by the pandemic”, explains António H. Carneiro , intensivist and internal medicine physician of Hospital da Luz Arrábida and coordinator of NEBio. However, “COVID-19 brought a series of new problems” that must be discussed by health professionals. Namely: The deaths that are not witnessed/accompanied; The goodbyes that cannot involve the presence of family and friends; The restriction of social rituals; The psychological burden felt by those who pass the disease, which is in itself a trauma; The psychological and social disturbances associated with isolation/confinement, that in some cases entail a dimension never experienced before. The discussion on online format will count with the participation of psychologist Alexandra Coelho (Unit of Palliative Medicine from Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, and Faculty of Medicine from Lisbon University) and nurse Catarina Simões, of the team of support and follow-up in palliative care from Hospital da Luz Arrábida, and also professor in the Higher School for Health of Santa Maria. The Webinar will be moderated by internist Alfredo Martins (HL Arrábida). Date and time: 9 December 2021, at 9h00 p.m. Enrolment (free but mandatory)
