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Chronic health conditions affect 1/3 of the population, raising the risk of depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Yet most healthcare providers still fall short in addressing psychological well-being for patients.

Providers, too, are at risk. Many face burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma.

Psychological well-being must be treated as foundational rather than supplementary.

While healthcare systems have made significant advances in recent years, they continue to trail behind in attending to psychological and emotional well-being. This gap affects not only patients living with a health condition but also the professionals tasked with their care. Despite clear evidence that chronic illness increases vulnerability to depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, healthcare delivery remains largely governed by a narrow medical gaze—one that prioritises survival and symptom management while sidelining human experience.

The consequences are increasingly visible. Reports of burnout, moral injury, and compassion fatigue among healthcare staff now sit alongside growing concerns about disempowering and dehumanising patient care.

Routine practices, such as prolonged waiting,........

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