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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

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 […]

Read More…

Ka Mura Ka Muri: Understandings of Organ Donation and Transplantation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Article Summary by Rhoda Shaw and Robert Webb This article draws on research findings from a series of in-depth interviews with Māori (the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) and Pākehā (European settler New Zealanders), concerning their views on organ donation and transplantation. Our findings show both differences and similarities between Māori and Pākehā understandings […]

Read More…

The Illness-Disease Dichotomy and the Biological-Clinical Splitting of Medicine

Article Summary by Luigi Tesio and Marco Buzzoni Suffering from an “illness without a disease” is a common condition. The person is suffering, but no abnormalities can be found in the body. This is the case for chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, many chronic pain syndromes, and most psychiatric disturbances. The article replies to the debate between […]

Read More…

September 2021 Standard Issue

Gut feelings: depression as an embodied and affective phenomenon in Houellebecq’s Serotonin Jenny Slatman, Inge van de Ven The rationales for and challenges with employing arts-based health services research (ABHSR): a qualitative systematic review of primary studies [read the article summary] Umair Majid, Sujane Kandasamy An intellectual history of suffering in the Encyclopedia of Bioethics, […]

Read More…

The Rationales for and Challenges with Employing Arts-based Health Services Research (ABHSR): A Qualitative Systematic Review of Primary Studies

Article Summary by Umair Majid We conducted a systematic review of 42 studies to identify the rationales for using arts-based research in health care. We found four rationales: (1) capture aspects of a topic that may be overlooked or ignored by other methods, (2) allow participants to reflect on their own experiences, (3) generate valuable […]

Read More…