- Why did you choose to teach in this Master, and what do you think makes it distinctive today?
I am honoured to have been invited to teach in this Master’s and to be part of a team with so many esteemed colleagues, from whose work I learn. I regard it as being part of an ongoing and much needed conversation on what it means to provide and to receive care in the full awareness of our vulnerability and therefore of our interdependence. There is strength to be derived from acknowledging how dependent we are on one another and on the planet. This requires bringing different disciplines into conversation and being both mindful of the limits of what we know and curious about what we can learn from listening to one another.
- How would you describe your experience teaching in the program, and what impact have you observed on participants?
I really appreciate the hospitality and I treasure how much I learn from our interactions with participants, who bring with them different personal and professional experiences and whose commitment, thoughtfulness, and creativity make for very enriching exchanges. This is made possible by a safe and welcoming atmosphere that makes room for issues that are not always easy to articulate to emerge, be acknowledged and discussed.
- In your view, how can narrative medicine contribute to improving healthcare and social services? How do you envision the future of health through this approach?
Narrative medicine emerged from the awareness of the relational nature of clinical practice and how it involves biomedical knowledge, judgements made in the face of uncertainty, and attention to patients’ as well as practitioners’ experience in the interest of person-centred care. Eventually the scope of attention broadened to integrate the wider networks of relations involved in healthcare, which include not only healthcare but also cultural, social, and demographic contexts. Currently, planetary health addresses global challenges at the intersection of health, environmental, social, and political sciences.
As our focus widens, narrative medicine’s focus on relationality remains paramount – an in-depth focus on which relations need to be attended to and how. Which involves considering the various networks within health and social care, from patients and informal carers to practitioners and policy-makers. How involves attending to the actual experience of health and illness and disability, to what it feels and what it takes to receive and provide care. It also means attention to particular stories while mindful of the wider social, cultural and political picture. Focusing on the particular and the local is a way of addressing global concerns without being overwhelmed by them. The experience and the expertise provided by Narrative Medicine training help us realize how we may do it in our respective environments.