Caring For Those Who Care
Trends /
Wellness
Maskot
1292696524
The healthcare sector is in crisis, and Europe is facing a shortage of healthcare workers1 – further accelerated by the Covid pandemic.2 As images of overworked and exhausted healthcare workers saturated the news, people responded by synchronously clapping their appreciation publicly in 2020. The physical and emotional toll on healthcare workers was such that as many as 9 out of 10 nurses said they intended to quit their jobs.3
This trend has continued: a PwC study in Germany found that only 30% of doctors and nurses or caregivers can imagine practicing their profession until retirement.4 Healthcare staff all around Europe have been going to the streets to protest.5 Their demands? Higher pay and better working conditions – recognition that goes beyond claps.
This trend has continued: a PwC study in Germany found that only 30% of doctors and nurses or caregivers can imagine practicing their profession until retirement.4 Healthcare staff all around Europe have been going to the streets to protest.5 Their demands? Higher pay and better working conditions – recognition that goes beyond claps.
The problem goes beyond a rise in chronic diseases and complex caring needs for an ageing population.6 2 out of 10 actions proposed by the WHO to strengthen the health and care workforce are to “create working conditions that promote a healthy work‑life balance” and “protect the health and mental well‑being of the workforce”.7
Visual communication around healthcare workers will need to take this into account, with a humanized approach that shows care for those caring for us. According to our research, 9 in 10 people say it is important that a healthcare company is honest and fair with its employees and that it takes good care of them. Showing this fosters patient and consumer loyalty.
Visual communication around healthcare workers will need to take this into account, with a humanized approach that shows care for those caring for us. According to our research, 9 in 10 people say it is important that a healthcare company is honest and fair with its employees and that it takes good care of them. Showing this fosters patient and consumer loyalty.
Humanising by empathising
Visuals showing patient‑healthcare professional relationships are always popular with our Getty Images and iStock customers. For the past year, popular videos showed a rise in humanised healthcare, with to‑camera portraits that express empathy, collaborative working and caring patient interaction. Interestingly, there has been a shift in the body language of healthcare practitioners to show proactive listening and empathy, telling more emotionally nuanced visual stories.
There is an opportunity to tell multifaceted visual stories around healthcare professionals that humanise and empathise by showing not only how they care for others, but how they themselves are cared for. Have you considered showing moments of support and empathy that feel spontaneous and genuine? This could be a candid encounter or conversation with coworkers and patients between appointments and diagnoses, or their lives before and after work. Consider showing their support systems in‑ and outside of work – for example, how healthcare workers care for each other in their day‑to‑day, or the support they receive from family and friends after they take off their smocks and scrubs.
Visuals showing patient‑healthcare professional relationships are always popular with our Getty Images and iStock customers. For the past year, popular videos showed a rise in humanised healthcare, with to‑camera portraits that express empathy, collaborative working and caring patient interaction. Interestingly, there has been a shift in the body language of healthcare practitioners to show proactive listening and empathy, telling more emotionally nuanced visual stories.
There is an opportunity to tell multifaceted visual stories around healthcare professionals that humanise and empathise by showing not only how they care for others, but how they themselves are cared for. Have you considered showing moments of support and empathy that feel spontaneous and genuine? This could be a candid encounter or conversation with coworkers and patients between appointments and diagnoses, or their lives before and after work. Consider showing their support systems in‑ and outside of work – for example, how healthcare workers care for each other in their day‑to‑day, or the support they receive from family and friends after they take off their smocks and scrubs.
Humanising by including
A key World Health Organization report highlighted ‘the lack of visibility of women leadership in the healthcare sector’ and how there are more women in lower‑paid jobs:8 the raw gender pay gap in Europe for the healthcare sector is 20% – which is above the estimated average of 12% among all other sectors.9
Positively, visuals used by Getty Images and iStock customers in 2022 do not reflect this lack of visibility, with most visuals of doctors and medical researchers featuring women. However, our customers are 6 times less likely to show male nurses or caregivers than their female counterparts with no representation of non‑cisgender identities. When it comes to the representation of healthcare professionals, consider bringing a more gender‑inclusive lens to the depictions of healthcare professionals.
A key World Health Organization report highlighted ‘the lack of visibility of women leadership in the healthcare sector’ and how there are more women in lower‑paid jobs:8 the raw gender pay gap in Europe for the healthcare sector is 20% – which is above the estimated average of 12% among all other sectors.9
Positively, visuals used by Getty Images and iStock customers in 2022 do not reflect this lack of visibility, with most visuals of doctors and medical researchers featuring women. However, our customers are 6 times less likely to show male nurses or caregivers than their female counterparts with no representation of non‑cisgender identities. When it comes to the representation of healthcare professionals, consider bringing a more gender‑inclusive lens to the depictions of healthcare professionals.
Sources:
1 Severe shortage of caregivers at heart of European healthcare crisis (Le Monde)
2 Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act (WHO)
3 The Global Nursing shortage and Nurse Retention (International Council of Nurses) via WHO
4 Fachkräftemangel im deutschen Gesundheitswesen 2022 (PwC)
5 e.g., in Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, UK
6 Severe shortage of caregivers at heart of European healthcare crisis (Le Monde)
7 The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: a global analysis in the time of COVID‑19 (WHO and International Labour Organization) via (WHO)
8 Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act (WHO)
9 The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: a global analysis in the time of COVID‑19 (WHO and International Labour Organization) via (WHO)
1 Severe shortage of caregivers at heart of European healthcare crisis (Le Monde)
2 Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act (WHO)
3 The Global Nursing shortage and Nurse Retention (International Council of Nurses) via WHO
4 Fachkräftemangel im deutschen Gesundheitswesen 2022 (PwC)
5 e.g., in Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, UK
6 Severe shortage of caregivers at heart of European healthcare crisis (Le Monde)
7 The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: a global analysis in the time of COVID‑19 (WHO and International Labour Organization) via (WHO)
8 Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act (WHO)
9 The gender pay gap in the health and care sector: a global analysis in the time of COVID‑19 (WHO and International Labour Organization) via (WHO)
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