STATEMENT: The UIC Barcelona Symposium 'Person, Society and Care' reflects on care in 360º

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The experts and speakers have agreed on the need to humanize care

The forum has featured renowned speakers who have reflected on the human dimension of care and the values ​​it brings to people and society

The program has included master sessions and round tables to analyze care from different perspectives, to exchange good practices and to facilitate networking between professionals from different fields.

Barcelona, ​​22 May 2023.- The Person, Society and Care Symposium, organized by UIC Barcelona with the collaboration of the Institute for Higher Family Studies (IESF) and the University's Chair in Management through Missions and Corporate Purpose, has come to an end with successful participation and attendance during the three days that the meeting lasted. The program has had a transversal nature and has covered different areas of care to promote collaboration and training from a comprehensive perspective.

In the words of the Vice Chancellor of the University Community, Dr. Esther Jiménez, "the objective of the symposium was to reflect on the human dimension of care and the values ​​it brings to people and society, and to share different experiences and initiatives that are being carried out in this sense".

The rector of UIC Barcelona, ​​Dr. Alfonso Méndiz, opened and closed the symposium, emphasizing that holding this symposium responded to the University's raison d'être and mission, which was founded in 1997 with the aim of "putting people in the center, that assumes the project of transforming society, and that has as its premise the care of all". Also with the objective of caring for people, the rector commented, UIC Barcelona launched the Cuides UIC Barcelona clinic, a university clinic to support advanced diseases and palliative care, which started "in very difficult times, of uncertainty and social collapse, always with the idea of ​​"protecting, caring for and ensuring someone's well-being".

Humanize care.

The experts gathered at the Symposium have agreed on the need to humanize care. The Alma Mater Professor of Sociology at the University of Bologna, and Doctor Honoris Causa from UIC Barcelona, ​​Pierpaolo Donati, has expressed himself in this line, who has opted to humanize care from social relations. Donati has delivered the conference 'The care of the other as a social relationship'.

The professor has insisted that personal relationships are essential "to care for others", a reality that "the pandemic has taught us because it has shown that social relationships are not accidental elements, but rather have their own entity that affects our lives". . Donati, who has defined care as a gift, has stated that "what society lacks are not so much material and technological resources but the relational skills to socially integrate, welcome and support people in difficulties".

For his part, the Professor of Philosophy at the Ramón Llull University, Francesc Torralba, has concluded that a leader must take into account certain traits when exercising his leadership, such as uncertainty, volatility, the hyper-acceleration of society or the vulnerability. In his conference 'Towards a leadership centered on care', he has pointed out that "leading well has to do with becoming aware that people break each other". In this sense, he added that "where there is indifference there is no care and where there is care there is openness to the other because the other counts, the other matters".

Importance of self-care.

The Professor of Philosophy and Epistemology of Qualitative Research at the Faculty of Medicine and Philosophy of Care at the University of Verona, Luigina Mortari, has participated in the Symposium to talk about the importance of self-care. In her conference, 'Taking care of yourself: recovering the genuine sense of self-care', she has concluded that "if you don't take care of yourself through your personal growth, you can't take care of others".

The Symposium also included the participation of the Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy at the University of Valencia, Agustín Domingo Moratalla, who spoke about care in the digital age. For the professor, talking about Care is referring to the five "Cs", and taking into account competence, awareness, confidence, compassion and trust.

For his part, the tenured professor of Philosophy at the Cardenal Herrera CEU University in Elche, Higinio Marín Pedreño, spoke about the essential value of care in the history of humanity.

Community care.

Lastly, experts in social and health care have also highlighted the key role played by the social environment in avoiding unwanted loneliness that affects a significant part of the vulnerable population or those with advanced illnesses. In this sense, the speakers at the Symposium recalled the need to create networks that put neighbors, businesses and neighborhood entities in contact so that they can help detect these situations, and thus help the public administration and the health system to intervene.

During the three days that the Symposium lasted, experts from different disciplines have analyzed care from its different aspects, and have addressed issues such as aging, loneliness or mental health. Likewise, they have exchanged experiences and initiatives and have dealt with care beyond the health field. The Person, Society and Care Symposium was held within the framework of the commemorative acts of the 25th anniversary of the university.

For more information: Marta González MartínezResponsible for Communication of the faculties of the Campus Sant CugatT. 34 935 042 000. Ext: 5153 / 657 736 887mgonzalezmar@uic.esJosep Trueta, s/n08195 Sant Cugat del Vallès

About UIC Barcelona.

The International University of Catalonia (UIC Barcelona) was created in 1997 with the aim of offering quality university education and promoting research as a service to society. Linked to the business world and with a markedly international character, it teaches 16 degrees, 8 double degrees, around thirty international double degrees and a wide range of postgraduate programs on its two campuses, located in Barcelona and Sant Cugat del Vallés.

As part of its commitment to society, UIC Barcelona also has three university clinics located on the Sant Cugat Campus: the University Dentistry Clinic, Support - University Clinic of Psychology and Psychiatry, and Cuides UIC Barcelona, ​​focused on patient care with advanced illnesses and palliative care.