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 […]
Category: Journal Announcements
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 […]
Reflections from Tales of Treatment
Article Summary by Marco J Haenssgen, Nutcha Charoenboon, Patthanan Thavethanutthanawin and Kanokporn Wibunjak Listen to Nutcha (Ern) Charoenboon discuss the research project below (full script below bionotes): Read the full article on the Medical Humanities journal. Global health has often been critiqued for neglecting the voices of poor, rural, and indigenous peoples around the […]
What is Compassion?
Article Summary by Sarah Chaney Today, this trait is thought to be central to nursing. Policymakers, healthcare staff and politicians alike have debated the topic over the past decade. They have asked whether compassion can be taught or is caring an inborn trait. How might one measure or test someone’s ‘emotional intelligence’? And is compassion […]
Delirium in Hospital: Violence, Vulnerability and Humanity
Article Summary by Victoria Hume In the UK, hospitalisations from Covid have been increasing steadily since the summer. On 18 November, 923 covid patients were mechanically ventilated in hospital – this represents about a quarter of all mechanically ventilated patients.1 The Nuffield Trust tells us that covid patients typically stay longer in ICU than surgical […]
December Special Issue Podcast: Transplantation and its Imaginaries
Podcast by Brandy Schillace with Donna McCormack and Magrit Shildrick The Transplantation and its Imaginaries special issue proposes new understandings of the limits and possible extensions of organ and tissue transplantation that encompass cutting edge interdisciplinary research around biomedicine, philosophy, literature, film and transplantation studies. In our own era, the parameters of human embodiment are […]