Flourishing Spaces: Small acts of resistance – A UKCCC Guest Blog by Professor Louise Younie
Efficiency, productivity, targets, documentation, emails, optimisation. We inhabit systems shaped increasingly by speed and performance. And yet many of us sense something else is needed. Not instead of excellence, science or expertise. But alongside them.
In my work with clinicians, educators, students and patients, I often speak about Flourishing Spaces: where all voices are welcomed and where transformation, curiosity, care and creativity can take root. These need not be grand interventions:
- A consultation where a patient and clinician are present to each other.
- An educator beginning teaching not with content, but with connection.
- A team meeting where hierarchy is flattened and voice welcomed.
Research increasingly points to the importance of relationships, belonging, compassion and meaning in healthcare. Yet systems, time pressures, increasing complexity unintentionally erode the very conditions that help these grow. This is why we need to mindfully cultivate Flourishing Spaces together in health ‘care’.
The poem presented below was created at the UKCCC annual gathering, 2026, in response to a GP poem written to reflect on, perhaps a throwaway comment by a patient to ‘take care’. Participants complete the sentence ‘at work I feel cared for when…’ and I compose responses into poetic form. Lines that stand out include:
When in our meetings we start with how we … actually are…
and I am seen
the real me is seen
When you listen,
when you make space to hear my thoughts
Simone Weil, philosopher, mystic, political activist (1909-1943) wrote ‘Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity’. Being seen and heard, spoken of in our poem is a generous Attending to each other, weaving and strengthening relational infrastructure. When we also make room for Sharing stories (lived experience) and Shadow work (expressing difficulties and challenges we face) and together we begin to Kindle a sense of hope in our workplaces, these all contribute to the Flourishing Space. This is the ASK model which I have emerged through over twenty years of small group creative enquiry flourishing spaces in medical education. There is space for growth, presence and transformation.
When people feel seen and heard, when they can bring their humanity into work, when they connect with each other, learning and care shift too.
So here is a simple invitation. This week, ask yourself: How might I contribute towards a Flourishing Space? At the start of a teaching session? in a clinical encounter? within a team conversation? Each line of the poem is another perspective on what makes people feel cared for and nourishes relationships… perhaps choosing to offer any one of those things to a colleague, a cup of tea, checking in on someone, noticing if they are not themselves, impacts the shared collective space. This doesn’t remove the stress, complexity, uncertainty and fragmentation of our work in healthcare, but can start to rehumanise us, remind us we are neither failing, nor falling behind and that we are not alone. Staying present in the face of our challenges requires courage.
If you would like to learn more or connect with the Flourishing Spaces community we have a website, newsletter, blog www.creativeenquiry.co.uk .
At work I feel cared for when…
At work I feel cared for when I’m asked how I’m doing
When I am supported and encouraged
When I can leave with a smile
When I am offered a cup of tea!
At work I feel cared for when a colleague sees a patient from my list if I run late
When my contribution is appreciated
When my manager respects my annual leave
When someone brings me coffee
At work I feel cared for when I am acknowledged for energy given
We do the things that aren’t essential but are just to show we care… a cup of tea, a pause to chat but
mostly when we’re completely daft together and have fun being silly
When my colleagues ask how I am doing
When I take time to hydrate
At work I feel cared for when colleagues check in on me
When my colleagues acknowledge my efforts and offer to help with small things ( which can feel like
the big things!) to help with workload
When my effort and energy that I have brought to care for others has been seen, appreciated and
acknowledged
When my patients smile and thank me for my time
At work I feel cared for when colleagues check in with me
When my colleagues tell me I am doing a good job
When someone places a cup of coffee and cake at my desk
When my colleague asks how I am
At work I feel cared for when someone checks in on how my day is going
Somebody brings me a much needed cup of tea and some words of support
Someone makes me a cup of tea
Someone notices I am not myself
At work I feel cared for when my colleagues ask me how I am
When people recognise me as a whole person not just a worker
When our personal needs are acknowledged and supported through word or programs
When someone is there to listen to me.
At work I feel cared for when my ideas are acknowledged
When you make space to hear my thoughts
When people check in on you
People make me feel safe
At work I feel care for when I’m given permission to be all of me, even the less shiny bits
When I am listened to, heard and supported. Allowed to be me.
When in our meetings we start with how we are, actually are… and I am seen
the real me is seen
When I notice what I am feeling
At work I feel cared for when someone notices if I don’t feel that well
Someone notices I’m struggling and stops to check in
When I received a hamper of treats when we had a bereavement in the family
the condolence flowers arrive and the note says, ‘From your friends at work’.
At work I feel cared for when I have a moment to share thoughts with colleagues
When I have time to take a pause and a breath
When I breathe
When somebody shows that they think I matter even when I don’t think so myself
At work I feel cared for when someone thanks me unexpectedly
People notice if I am not feeling good
I am acknowledged
You listen.
Co-created with UKCCC members and @Louise Younie (LinkedIn)
Professor Louise Younie is a General Practitioner and Professor of Medical Education working both at Queen Mary University of London and University of Oxford. She has extensive experience with co-creative and creative enquiry methodologies in medical education for humanising medicine and human flourishing. She is chair of the Royal College of GPs Creative Health Special Interest Group (SIG), a National Teaching Fellow (2022) and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her ‘Flourishing Spaces’ programme received the silver QS Global Education Award in the ‘nurturing wellbeing and purpose’ category, 2024.
Professor Louise Younie – LinkedIn
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