The influence of narrative medicine techniques on the roles of potential patient and future caregiver – A pilot study

• Autor(a) principal: Beecher Martins, Cecilia
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Duarte, António
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10451/62034
• topic: Narrative medicine; Medical humanities; Close reading; Reflective writing

The emergent field of the Medical Humanities defends the introduction of training in the humanities in healthcare contexts. Considering Narrative Medicine as one of the areas of the Medical Humanities, a pilot study was conducted with a group of 9 students (Medical and Humanities) to gain some insight as to if/how training in Narrative Medicine techniques (namely, close reading of and creative/reflective writing on literary narratives on the thematics of health) could promote changes in participants’ perceptions of their potential roles as patients or caregivers. Alterations were assessed using semi-structured, focus-group interviews carried out after training. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to examine interview responses. The interviews demonstrated that participants perceived that the training had enhanced their capacity to fulfill their patient and caregiver roles. Potential patients expressed a desire to interact more fully and efficiently in healthcare relationships and future healthcare professionals expressed a desire to attend their patients more comprehensively. Moreover, participants’ responses spoke to the potential benefits of using Narrative Medicine literary analysis techniques with mixed groups. The findings of this study are presented within the context of contemporary theories on the Medical Humanities and Health Humanities