Narrative Medicine
Narrative medicine sessions encourage patients to reflect on their journey as they rediscover personal identity and meaning by telling or writing their stories.
Attentive listening is at the heart of these sessions. You will be invited to share your experiences of illness and treatment, sources of strength, new insights or concerns, as well as hopes for the future.
As you share your unique story, a narrative medicine facilitator will guide these conversations to help you discover insights that you can use to reconcile your diagnosis and recover mentally.
What happens during a narrative medicine session?
Narrative medicine sessions usually take place in a patient’s hospital room or at a treatment or infusion center.
During the session, the narrative medicine facilitator will ask a few simple questions to learn more about your story and will help guide the conversation. You are always welcome to focus on a particular concern, issue or memory.
How does narrative medicine help patients' families?
Facing illness and treatment can be a challenging journey for you and your loved ones.
Through the narrative medicine process, you may be more comfortable sharing the story of your treatment journey with your family, friends and care providers, leading to a feeling of greater support from those who are most important in your life.
What are the benefits of narrative medicine?
Narrative medicine has been shown to:
- Help release emotional and physical pain.
- Encourage overall well-being.
- Offer nonpharmacological pain management.
- Improve sleep quality.
- Encourage trust and build rapport between you and your treatment team, improving communication and promoting patient cooperation and outcomes.
Narrative medicine can help you understand your illness and healthcare journey in the context of your entire life story, allowing you to play an active role in your treatment. Some patients gain new perspectives on their illness and treatment by putting their experiences into words.
Narrating these experiences may also help you discover connections between the journey of treatment and your own beliefs. Patients often come away from narrative work with a clearer sense of personal meaning and direction.
Schedule an appointment
Narrative medicine sessions are available for all UK HealthCare patients and their families.
For more information about narrative medicine or to schedule an appointment for a narrative medicine session, contact Narrative Medicine Program Coordinator Robert Slocum, PhD, at 859-323-4325 (HEAL) or robert.slocum@uky.edu.
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