Introduction of GRACE program required for COVID-19 disaster - especially for exhausted healthcare workers

Abstract

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has exhausted many citizens around the world, especially health care workers. In times like these, mindfulness and compassion are necessary to heal many people. GRACE is a program that healthcare professionals can easily use in clinical practice. This program was developed by Roshi Joan Halifax, Ph.D., a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, Cynda Rushton, the Bunting Chair of Ethics at Johns Hopkins University, and Professor Tony Back, a palliative care physician and medical oncologist at the University of Washington to prevent burnout among medical professionals. G.R.A.C.E. was developed in response to the deficit of compassion in the world today. The G.R.A.C.E. process includes the following five steps. G: Gathering attention and Grounding, R: Recalling intention, A: Attuning to self and other, C: Considering what will serve, E: Engaging and ending. G.R.A.C.E. is a tool for anyone, especially those in leadership roles or helping professions, such as medical workers, teachers, human rights workers, and more. In Japan, we invited three of the developers to hold training sessions since 2015. We held an annual conference every year, and monthly study sessions, in Tokyo and Osaka. Currently, we are planning to translate the online course developed in the US into Japanese and use it for training. In this presentation, we will report on the spread of G.R.A.C.E. in Japan, along with an overview of G.R.A.C.E.