Do we need to bring back the lost art of convalescence? | Did you know that in the founding constitution of the World Health Organisation, health is defined as:“A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” As someone who's lived with chronic conditions since I was a child, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what recovery can mean. A little while back, I stumbled across a teeny tiny book called Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence. I read the whole thing in one very short sitting, and then messaged my producer Philly telling her I must interview its author, Dr. Gavin Francis. The book is a meditation on recovery and that’s what we’ll be exploring in this week’s episode The Rest Room podcast. It asks the question: if recovery doesn’t have to be a total absence of ill health, what should we actually be thinking about?We hear from Dr. Francis about what recovery means to him, what needs to change to give people the best chance of recovery and about how our society isn’t set up to allow people the time they need to recover. We also consider the roles our own beliefs and nature play in our health, and how you might start to reimagine or re-write your story when you live with a long-term condition. It definitely gave me a lot to think about. I hope it will give you a lot to think about too. | EPISODE LINKS: You can find Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalensnce on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Recovery-Lost-Convalescence-Gavin-Francis/dp/1800810482/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QINRP8PINFPA&keywords=the+lost+art+of+convalescence&qid=1641292715&sprefix=the+lost+art+of+%2Caps%2C2349&sr=8-1To learn about reading more with chronic illness, check out this episode of The Rest Room Podcast: https://natashalipman.com/how-to-read-more-when-you-live-with-chronic-illness/Thanks to our episode sponsor, the Passenger Assistance App by Transreport, which takes the time and fuss out of requesting disability assistance when you travel by train in the UK. You can download the app now on iOS (https://apple.co/3HGcGVr) and Android (https://bit.ly/3IFKLGO).You can read the episode transcript here. http://natashalipman.com/rest-room-pod-rethinking-recovery-transcript. Subscribe to my newsletter at natashalipman.substack.com. And follow me on Instagram and Twitter @NatashaLipman if you haven’t already.
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Rethinking Recovery
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Do we need to bring back the lost art of convalescence? | Did you know that in the founding constitution of the World Health Organisation, health is defined as:“A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” As someone who's lived with chronic conditions since I was a child, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what recovery can mean. A little while back, I stumbled across a teeny tiny book called Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalescence. I read the whole thing in one very short sitting, and then messaged my producer Philly telling her I must interview its author, Dr. Gavin Francis. The book is a meditation on recovery and that’s what we’ll be exploring in this week’s episode The Rest Room podcast. It asks the question: if recovery doesn’t have to be a total absence of ill health, what should we actually be thinking about?We hear from Dr. Francis about what recovery means to him, what needs to change to give people the best chance of recovery and about how our society isn’t set up to allow people the time they need to recover. We also consider the roles our own beliefs and nature play in our health, and how you might start to reimagine or re-write your story when you live with a long-term condition. It definitely gave me a lot to think about. I hope it will give you a lot to think about too. | EPISODE LINKS: You can find Recovery: The Lost Art of Convalensnce on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Recovery-Lost-Convalescence-Gavin-Francis/dp/1800810482/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QINRP8PINFPA&keywords=the+lost+art+of+convalescence&qid=1641292715&sprefix=the+lost+art+of+%2Caps%2C2349&sr=8-1To learn about reading more with chronic illness, check out this episode of The Rest Room Podcast: https://natashalipman.com/how-to-read-more-when-you-live-with-chronic-illness/Thanks to our episode sponsor, the Passenger Assistance App by Transreport, which takes the time and fuss out of requesting disability assistance when you travel by train in the UK. You can download the app now on iOS (https://apple.co/3HGcGVr) and Android (https://bit.ly/3IFKLGO).You can read the episode transcript here. http://natashalipman.com/rest-room-pod-rethinking-recovery-transcript. Subscribe to my newsletter at natashalipman.substack.com. And follow me on Instagram and Twitter @NatashaLipman if you haven’t already.