What is “Narrative Medicine”?

“Chekhov once said the role of the writer is not to pass judgment on characters but to distinguish important from unimportant testimony.  The same advice applies to health care providers……….Most patients..don’t speak the language of medicine.  They don’t know what information (the doctor) is looking for.  They may not know what they want, but they know something isn’t right.
  ….the stakes are high for both patient and caregiver and getting the story right an absolute necessity.”    — Jay Baruch, MD, ER physician and writer
                           
Narrative Medicine is an approach that uses literature and writing to fortify clinical practice to recognize, absorb, interpret and be moved by the stories of illness and through this approach improve effectiveness of care.
For more information, please see LINKS.

The HealthMax Patient Voice Project
Dr. Michaelson leads writing workshops for patients with chronic illness.  A recent session took place after a visit to the BODY WORLDS exhibit at OMSI, and more events like this will be scheduled soon.  Email us at writing@healthmaxpdx.com to be notified about upcoming workshops.

Weekly Writing Workshops at HealthMax
Coming soon.

Narrative Medicine Links:
http://narrativemedicine.org/
http://litsite.alaska.edu/healing/medicine.html
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/201153

“Thank you for including me in such a wonderful experience.  I just love it when someone puts in an effort like you did that results in something so special.  What a wonderful group of patients you have!”

—Tom Bray