What does flourishing in the tail end of the pandemic look like?

Dr Louise Younie

To speak of flourishing helps to move the wellbeing conversation beyond the idea of resilience and toughing it out alone, towards something more interpersonal and ecological, connecting our inner lives with the ebb and flow of loss and renewal, death and growth. Flourishing is about connection with our values, with purpose and meaning (Aristotle’s eudaimonia) and building relationship through engaging compassionately with our own humanity and that of others. It is a way of travelling more than a destination.

Drawing on practice and ongoing research at QMUL, this presentation will explore the concept of flourishing and how creative enquiry (exploring lived experience through the arts) can support flourishing and connection in higher education, especially important in these times at the tail end of COVID-19.

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Dr Louise Younie (MBChB, MRCGP (dist), MSc (dist), EdD, NTF, PFHEA) is a GP and Clinical Reader in Medical Education at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) where she leads on faculty development and innovation. She has been innovating in the field of medical education for the last 20 years building extensive experience with creative enquiry methodologies for humanising medicine, professional identity formation and human flourishing. She is a Flourishing Fellow working across QMUL to explore co-creatively with students and staff, what it means to flourish. She is co-chair of the Royal College of GPs Creative Health SIG for GPs and is on the steering group for the Royal Society of Public Health Arts, Health and Wellbeing SIG.

Twitter: @LouiseYounie