Therapeutic acts of witness: why writing poetry and prose has never been just for patients

Roscoe, Lori A.

doi:10.1136/jmh.2009.002592

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Reflective writing is a critical skill for healthcare professionals for professional identity formation (Wald and Reis, 2010). This tool illustrates outcomes such as empathy, processing of challenging clinical incidents, healthy grieving and rapport with patients, and can reduce moral distress in medical professionals (Lachman and Pawlina, 2006; Roscoe, 2009; Dyrbye et al, 2010; Charon and Hermann, 2012; Chen and Forbes, 2014; Germain et al, 2016; Kissler et al, 2016; Lazarus et al, 2017). For the purposes of this article, reflective writing will be defined as an introspective process in which the writer engages with an event or interaction – such as their experience with human cadaver dissection – and adds personal reflection on its meaning in the author's life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflective Writing on the Cadaveric Dissection Experience: An Effective Tool to Assess the Impact of Dissection on Learning of Anatomy, Humanism, Empathy, Well‐Being, and Professional Identity Formation in Medical Students

Abrams

Eckert

Topping

et al. 2020

Anatomical Sciences Ed

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Growing evidence supports the use of reflective writing activities centered around the human cadaveric dissection experience to support and assess elements of medical student wellness. Dissection may promote personal and professional development, increase resilience, and foster a sense of connection and community. This study employed a qualitative analysis of a reflective writing exercise to explore the question: "What is the impact of the cadaveric dissection anatomy experience on the personal and professional development of medical students?" This cross-sectional study was conducted at the conclusion of the first-year anatomy module. A total of 117 United States allopathic medical students were given a questionnaire designed to elicit the students' experiences and introspection. The exercise included four reflective questions that were provided to 20 groups of six students. Grounded theory analysis was used to explore themes that arose in students' responses. Participants exhibited several common reactions to cadaveric dissection. After analyzing all responses, 266 unique open codes were identified for all four questions. These open codes were sorted into ten distinct axial codes, which are broader categorical themes of open codes. The aims of our study were to identify themes that emerged as students reflected on the impact of their dissection experience using reflective writing as a tool to capture these themes and to gather information to inform pedagogical methodologies. The researchers observed that the educational effects of dissection captured in the reflective writing resembled those found in other areas of medical education that emphasize professional identity formation and important humanistic qualities. Anat Sci Educ 14: 658-665.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reflective Writing on the Cadaveric Dissection Experience: An Effective Tool to Assess the Impact of Dissection on Learning of Anatomy, Humanism, Empathy, Well‐Being, and Professional Identity Formation in Medical Students

Abrams

Eckert

Topping

et al. 2020

Anatomical Sciences Ed

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recent literature indicates that first-person narratives of COVID-19 illness are required in order to understand the ongoing and debilitating temporality of the illness and allow for documentation of the continuous human impact of the pandemic (Howell 2022). Roscoe (2009) reflects on the writing of poetry and prose as therapeutic acts of witness and posits that we make sense of our experiences by consigning them to story form, resulting in 'collective acts of sense-making'. These forms of storytelling help provide a sense of control over events that appear to be chaotic and unpredictable, and that disrupt life narratives for patients, and for carers and healthcare providers as well.…”

Section: Katherine's Reflections On the Poemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bearing witness poetically in a pandemic: documenting suffering and care in conditions of physical isolation and uncertainty

Boydell,

Lupton

2023

Med Humanities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 crisis is still affecting millions of people worldwide. However, government and mass media attention to the continuing loss of life, severe illness and prolonged effects of COVID-19 has subsided, rendering the suffering of those who have become ill or disabled, or who have lost loved ones to the disease, largely hidden from view. In this article, we employ autoethnographic poetic inquiry from the perspective of a mother/carer whose young adult daughter became critically ill and hospitalised after becoming infected while the mother herself was isolating at home due to her own COVID-19 diagnosis. The first author created a poem from notes she had made in a journal from telephone conversations and messages with the healthcare providers caring for her daughter. The second author responded to the poem, identifying the feelings and meanings it surfaced. Together, the authors draw on scholarship discussing concepts of uncertainty, liminality, moral distress, bearing witness and illness narratives to reflect on how autoethnographic poetic inquiry can document and make visible COVID-19-related suffering.

show abstract

“…Much literature probing influences on burnout draws on survey research (Campbell et al 2001;Shanafelt et al 2002Shanafelt et al , 2015Shanafelt et al , 2016. First-person written narrative remains an overlooked source of data in this area, despite its increasing uptake among physicians and medical learners (Charon 2005;Charon and Hermann 2012;Johna, Woodward, and Patel 2014;Mann, Gordon, and Macleod 2009) and its unique ability to illuminate-for writer and researcher alike-their reflections on experience (Bruner 1986;Charon and Hermann 2012;Roscoe 2009). Charon defines narratives as "stories with a teller, a listener, a time course, a plot, and a point" (2006,3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voices from the Front Lines: An Analysis of Physicians’ Reflective Narratives about Flaws with the ‘System’

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physicians often express frustration with the ‘system’ in which they work. Over time, this frustration may put them at risk of burnout and disengagement, which may impact patient care. In this study, we aimed to understand the nature of the system flaws that physicians identified in their published narratives and to explore their self-representation as agents of change. We reviewed all reflective narratives published in four medical journals (NEJM, JAMA, CMAJ, Annals IM) between January 2015 and December 2017 (n = 282). By consensus, we identified those that addressed system flaws (n = 87). Using content and narrative analysis, we analyzed the types of flaws and the physicians’ orientation to the flawed system. We identified seven recurring system flaws—five related to medical culture: failures of communication, erosive impact of the hidden curriculum, inadequate health advocacy, frenzied pace of work, and experience of stigma. Less frequently, physicians’ narratives also exposed limited and disparate healthcare resources and restrictive institutional practices as impeding patient-centered care. Physicians expressed agency to create change foremost when writing about flaws related to medical culture. While physicians are challenged by system flaws, they strive to practice in ways that do not succumb to them. We saw tension between the elements outside the physician’s control and those within it. This tension becomes a source of distress when the compromises that emerge from system flaws move physicians away from the values that define their professional identity. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10912-021-09690-6.

show abstract

Therapeutic acts of witness: why writing poetry and prose has never been just for patients

Cited by 5 publications

References 9 publications

Reflective Writing on the Cadaveric Dissection Experience: An Effective Tool to Assess the Impact of Dissection on Learning of Anatomy, Humanism, Empathy, Well‐Being, and Professional Identity Formation in Medical Students

Reflective Writing on the Cadaveric Dissection Experience: An Effective Tool to Assess the Impact of Dissection on Learning of Anatomy, Humanism, Empathy, Well‐Being, and Professional Identity Formation in Medical Students

Bearing witness poetically in a pandemic: documenting suffering and care in conditions of physical isolation and uncertainty

Voices from the Front Lines: An Analysis of Physicians’ Reflective Narratives about Flaws with the ‘System’

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About