Health Story Type: Journal Article

Literature and medicine: A short course for medical students

This article describes an informal course on literature and medicine for medical students. A wide range of books, plays and poems were used with medical and non-medical themes. Students enjoyed the course and particularly welcomed the non-medical components. Several book lists are provided with an emphasis on classic authors (e.g. Jane Austen, Harper Lee, Lewis Carroll, although The Color Purple is also included in one). Description focuses on general structure and students' reactions rather than details of discussions. The author urges informality for this kind of literary discussion and suggests even calling it a "club" rather than a "course." Could be useful to discuss ethics of care or as a starting place for a more diverse reading list.

Sick Woman Theory

Sick Woman Theory by Johanna Hedva is an exploration of the intersection of illness, disability, and feminism. Hedva challenges traditional notions of productivity and success, advocating for a reevaluation of societal attitudes toward bodies that deviate from the norm. The theory delves into the experiences of sick and disabled individuals, highlighting the systemic issues they face, and calling for a more inclusive and compassionate understanding of chronic illness. Hedva’s work prompts a reconsideration of the value placed on health and challenges the ableist structures ingrained in society. Specifically, Hedva provides a story of when they were unable to participate, in the streets, during the Black Lives Matter protests. Due to their many illnesses, including PTSD, anxiety, fibromyalgia, and endometriosis. Hedva describes chronic illness, writing, “I have chronic illness. For those who don’t know what chronic illness means: the word “chronic” comes from the Greek “chronos,” χρόνος, which means “time” (think of “chronology”). In certain contexts, it can mean “a lifetime.” So, a chronic illness is an illness that lasts a lifetime. In other words, it does not get better. There is no cure.” They explain the implications of chronic illness in times of resistance. This source could be used in a course discussing disability and chronic illness, especially when focusing on intersectionality. It raises questions about who is allowed to participate in society, and how they are allowed to participate. Hedva affirms the experience of disabled bodies, advocating for resistance through rest. Courses interested in illness and politics, illness and relationships, and how disabled bodies can mobilize without moving would benefit from this reading.

Visual and narrative comprehension of trauma

“This article argues that though art is assumed to be useful as an intuitive means of representation, its usefulness in offering insight into trauma depends on accompanying narratives. Four artists’ works considered herein illuminate how the synergistic interplay between art and expository input from personal narratives can augment comprehension of trauma”. This article includes artwork from Luzene Hill, David Wojnarowicz, Tania Love Abramson. Luzene Hill’s work, Retracing the Trace, depicts their experience with rape and the silencing of women within our society. The art installment shows her body lying on the ground with blood red knots scattered around her body. This article could be used in a class discussion based on how trauma can be made tangible and expressed through mediums such as art.

Graphic perspectives on caring, aging and end-of-life

In this article, a writer and English professor reviews various graphic narrative depictions of aging including Joyce Farmer’s Special Exits, Roz Chast’s Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant?, and most prominently Nigel Baines’ Afloat: A Memoir about Mum, Dementia, and Trying Not to Drown. Venema summarizes each of these books’ plotlines and connections to their authors own lives, specifically as retellings of their parents’ experiences. She also explores the benefits of using comics and graphic narratives to tell end-of-life stories in complex, unconventional, temporally warped, and often nonlinear formats. Each of these books could be used as resources in class syllabi on aging, healthcare systems, and care from family and friend support systems, but this comprehensive review could be a useful introductory material for a graphic medicine course.

Creative writing as a medical instrument

"Writing stories can create better doctors." Baruch is convinced that narrative medicine - focusing on close reading - isn't enough to prepare physicians to deal with ambiguities, confusions and conflicts inherent in medical practice. He urges teaching them to write stories so they can hear their patients' stories better. References and describes courses he has taught (one with an MFA creative writer) to teach medical students about characters, conflict, selecting key details ... storytelling elements often emphasized in creative writing. The goal is to encourage them to struggle with words on the screen (or page) to prepare to more deeply understand the fragmented, often confusing stories presented by patients. Good preparation for a teacher contemplating a narrative assignment; maybe less so for the students themselves.

The Almost Right Word: The Move From Medical to Health Humanities.

Concise summary of the history of medical humanities and how a distinct understanding of health humanities (using disability studies as an example, emphasizing how much of living with disabilities does not happen in medical contexts) contributes to analyzing and understanding human factors in health. Useful as background for undergraduate courses; expanding conversation for pre-health and health professional students.

Narratives of prevention and redemption in opioid overdose obituaries

This journal article could be used as an example of social scientific study of naturally-occurring health narratives: those found in obituaries, an uncommon source to look for stories of opioid overdose. Raises topics of how overdose and other stigmatized health conditions are (and are not) discussed; might be combined with a literary account of addiction to show humanities vs social science understandings of a phenomenon. Abstract: Obituaries of people who died from an opioid overdose represent a new territory for understanding cultural narratives of the US opioid epidemic. Drawing on textual analysis of 30 opioid overdose obituaries published on Legacy.com between 2015 and 2020, we describe a prototypical narrative conveyed through opioid overdose obituaries, which renders symbolic meaning through the voices of the bereaved. Obituary authors reimagine their subjects as tragic heroes and reconstitute opioid addiction as a curse, plight or affliction that befalls its victims. Many of these obituaries invoke the language of public health, calling for reform, action or general awareness so other families might avoid the havoc and heartbreak of opioid addiction. We argue that obituaries contribute to broader cultural narratives of opioid addiction by reproducing tragic storylines, vindicating and humanising the deceased, framing opioid addiction as a societal, rather than individual, problem, and medicalising addiction as a brain disease beyond a persons control. Obituary texts thus intertwine a personal story with a broader societal health crisis, transforming stories of the deceased into cautionary tales and public health warnings.Data are available upon request.

“She Didn’t Think Fat Women Deserved to Have Children”: Memorable Messages From Healthcare Providers in the Context of Fat Pregnancy

Infertility is physically, emotionally, psychologically, financially, and socially challenging. For people in larger bodies, infertility challenges are intensified as providers often blame them for their inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term. Authors used a strategy common in communication research for 30+ years to elicit "memorable messages," all of which have to have a story behind them. Primary themes in these messages were (a) body size is a primary reason for infertility, (b) weight loss will lead to a successful pregnancy, and (c) denial of care. The method might be used or modified as a way to elicit health narratives. Particularly useful for a research methods course or to document fat-shaming from participants' perspective.

Bipolarations

David Martinez tells of his experience with bipolar disorder through childhood flashbacks that detail his family's desire to deny that anything was "wrong," their wariness of therapy, his placement in a classroom for "troubled" youth, his dropping out and his drug use. He describes the relief it was to receive, at age 32, a diagnosis and prescription medication for his condition and his subsequent work to integrate "the boy" he was and the college professor he is now. His story provides insight into how he experiences the "highs" and "lows" of his bipolar condition. He includes self-portraiture to tell his story. A recurring theme is uncertainty about what is "real"--his euphoric and dysphoric experiences, his diagnosis--and the distinction between internal experience and how one appears to others. The essay could prompt discussion about the role of family in encouraging or discouraging treatment for mental health issues, the reasons why people may not take medications, the ways people mask or express mental health experiences. This essay appeared in Please See Me, an online literary journal that features health-related stories by members of vulnerable populations, and those who care for them.

Medicina narrativa

Overview of narrative medicine: characteristics of a narrative, benefits for health professionals, basis in biopsychosocial model of medical care. Useful introduction to a course in health narratives taught in Spanish; upper intermediate reading level, 4 pps