Article Summary by Alan Cribb No doubt everyone would agree that conversations are valuable. Amongst other things they are one of the ways we can attend to, appreciate and learn from one another. This, of course, is relevant to practical activities like healthcare improvement. Healthcare improvement typically involves technical or formally specified processes working alongside […]
Category: Journal Announcements
The Dying Patient: Taboo, Controversy and Missing Terms of Reference for Designers—An Architectural Perspective
Article Summary by Annie Bellamy Our societies have become more and more removed from the realities of growing old and dying. The language surrounding death, dying and who the ‘patient’ really is has become clouded and confusing, which has only been made worse by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Language and key terms of […]
Health, Well-being, and Material-Ideal Hybrid Spaces in Yeats’s Writing
Article Summary by Tudor Balinisteanu The medical humanities research carried out in our Neuroaesthetics Lab at University of Suceava asks whether art that engenders awareness of one’s embodied life is healthier than art that fosters statuary ideals. We argue that sacrificing mindfulness of one’s own embodied life in favour of spiritual or idealistic purpose can […]
Pine Fresh: The Cultural and Medical Context of Pine Scent in Relation to Health—From the Forest to the Home
Article Summary by Clare Hickman This article uses a sensory approach to trace the attachment of concepts of health in relation to the scent of pine trees, and how that has been perceived as signaling particular health properties in different spaces—namely the forest, the tuberculosis sanatoria and the home—over the last two centuries. By tracing […]
From Blocked Flows to Suppressed Emotions: The Life of a Trope
Article Summary by Stewart Justman This article looks into the traditional notion that disease results from excesses pent up in the body and that treatment consists of getting rid of them. Interested readers will discover variants of this topos in surprising places—for example, in the 18th-century belief that smallpox resident in the body could be […]
Food hygiene, Public Health Education and Citizenship in Britain, 1948–1967
Article Summary by Alex Mold Anyone who has ever suffered from a bout of food poisoning can attest to the importance of good food hygiene. Encouraging people to follow simple rules, such as washing hands before preparing or eating food, has long been a task for public health educators. In this article I examine public […]
The Mediated Discourse and Voice of Euthanasia: the Israeli Media as a Case Study
Article Summary by Baruch Shomron Euthanasia refers to the intentional ending of a person’s life with the intent of alleviating great pain or suffering. As such, euthanasia is an important social and quality of life issue. However, it is highly controversial and is continuously debated around the world. Indeed, as a value-laden issue, its legitimacy […]
Disability, Relationship, and the Negotiation of Loss
Article Summary by Vic McKinney and Brian Watermeyer This paper explores the difficulty of going through a normal grieving process when becoming disabled and experiencing the death of a loved one. People with disabilities are historically, and generally still viewed as individuals associated with loss and deficit. There are also a range of stereotypical reactions […]
Complexities in Interdisciplinary Community Engagement Projects: Some Reflections and Lessons from an Applied Drama and Theatre Project in Diabetes Care
Article Summary by Jennifer Watermeyer There is a growing interest in using drama and theatre to share health information with the public as part of community engagement projects. This process can be challenging for several reasons. In this paper, we describe the process and pitfalls of a project that involved the development and performance of […]
May I Have Your Uterus? The Contribution of Considering Complexities Preceding Live Uterus Transplantation
Article Summary by Lisa Guntram Swedish researchers have investigated since the end of the 1990s whether uterus transplantation, in combination with IVF, can make it possible for women without a uterus to become pregnant. However, to participate in the such research in Sweden, it has been necessary that the recipient find a donor, preferably a […]