Eva Cohen, PhD candidate, is an enthusiastic and driven researcher at Amsterdam UMC and AR&D. Her research focuses on ways to mitigate the environmental footprint of gynaecological care and to involve patients in the transition towards sustainable healthcare.

Information on the conference visit
Eva Cohen attended the 12th International Shared Decision Making (ISDM) conference in Lausanne, Switzerland in July, 2024. The conference will be used to position shared decision making as a key part of coproduction in healthcare. A new topic, integrating environmentally sustainability into shared decision making, will be addressed for the first time since the establishment of ISDM.

Summary of Eva’s research
After finishing her bachelor- and master’s medical degree cum laude and with honours in 2021, Eva Cohen started working as a doctor not in training at the obstetrics and gynaecology department at Zaans Medisch Centrum and later at Amsterdam UMC, location AMC. Soon, she sought to broaden her scope of clinical care through engagement in education and research, driving her to pursue a PhD in a topic that is off the beaten track: investigating the environmental impact of gynaecological care
and the implementation of environmental sustainability in clinical decision-making.
In this project, Eva is currently working as a PhD-student at the benign gynaecology department together with both gynaecologists, anaesthesiologists and public health researchers to find ways to mitigate the environmental footprint of gynaecological care and to involve patients in the transition towards sustainable healthcare.

The visit
“I took the night train at 22:00 and arrived about 10 hours later, well-rested —highly
recommend this way of travelling! The conference focused on shared decision-making (SDM) in healthcare, targeting both researchers and clinicians. SDM, part of patient-centered care, is defined as the collaboration between individuals, combining science, clinical experience, and personal preferences when comparing options or plans to determine decisions.”

“This was the 12th conference and the first to include environmental sustainability in the program. Andy Haines, a public health professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, delivered an excellent keynote on healthcare's impact on the environment and how to integrate environmental considerations into SDM. This aligned with the topic of my poster presentation, which focused on involving patients in making healthcare more sustainable.”

“I appreciated that the conference prioritised discussions and conversations without much interference from industries or sponsors. It was inclusive, featuring "inclusivity angels" to ensure comfort, supporting young researchers by giving them a platform, and including patients in keynote lectures to learn from their perspectives.”

Take away from the conference
“From the oral presentations, I discovered that SDM can lead to shorter hospital stays and less invasive treatments, making it a sustainable practice in itself. Additionally, I learned that some clinicians might view SDM as something 'extra,' but this conference demonstrated that it is merely about being curious about the person in front of you and embracing, acknowledging, and sharing uncertainty (since no choice will ever be 100 percent right or wrong). A treatment option that is considered ‘best’ by a clinician, might not be the best option for the individual patient. These personal preferences should be emphasized and acknowledged, and stresses the importance to also know patient preferences regarding the environmental impact of healthcare.”

For more research and contact information visit here.