Article Summary by Michelle Botha and Brian Watermeyer This paper explores ideas about disability, identity and belonging in the context of post-apartheid South Africa. The first author (MB) reflects on the intersection of disability, gender, race and language in her experience. The paper revolves around MB’s recollection of her first year of primary school which […]
Tag: research
Eggs, Sugar, Grated Bones: Colour-Based Food Preferences in Autism, Eating Disorders, and Beyond
Article Summary by Mattias Strand This article explores colour-based food preferences and selective eating, with a focus on autism spectrum disorder and so-called avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)—an eating disorder characterized by restrictive eating in the absence of body image concerns. As many parents can testify, it is immensely common for children to display patterns […]
What is the Cultural Value of Dying in an Era of Assisted Dying?
Article Summary by Naomi Richards and Marian Krawczyk Assisted dying—the ability to be assisted by a medical professional to end your life at a time of your choosing – is now available in a number of jurisdictions around the world, for those who satisfy the criteria. This paper raises the question of whether dying will […]
Bringing Narratives from Physicians, Patients and Caregivers Together: A Scoping Review of Published Research
Article Summary by Tracy Moniz Article by Tracy Moniz, John Costella, Maryam Golafshani, Chris Watling and Lorelei Lingard What can we learn from research that compares the stories that physicians, patients, and family caregivers write about their illness and care experiences? Our literature review sought to answer this question in hopes that a better understanding […]
Healthcare Providers’ Engagement with Eating Disorder Recovery Narratives: Opening to Complexity and Diversity
Article Summary by Andrea LaMarre and Carla Rice There is very little training around eating disorders across different areas and levels of healthcare. It is even less common to see training that shares the perspectives of people with lived experiences and their supporters with healthcare providers and healthcare provider trainees (HCPs). In this study, we […]
Recognition, Collaboration and Community: Science Fiction Representations of Robot Carers in Robot & Frank, Big Hero 6 and Humans
Article Summary by Yugin Teo This paper is interested in how three science fiction texts that came out in the 2010s explored in distinct ways the relationship between robot carers and their human users: the films Robot & Frank (2012) and Big Hero 6 (2014), and the television series Humans (2015–2019). The paper examines ethical […]
From the December Issue: Pyschosocial Curating
Today we are pleased to preview an article from the December double issue, Vanessa Bartlett’s Psychosocial curating: a theory and practice of exhibition-making at the intersection between health and aesthetics. Read the full article on the Medical Humanities journal website. Dr. Vanessa Bartlett is a curator and McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of […]
From December’s Issue: Film, Depression, and Anxiety
In today’s post, we are pleased to preview the work of James Carney: Culture and mood disorders: the effect of abstraction in image, narrative and film on depression and anxiety. In this open access article, Dr. Carney talks about our engagement with cultural representation. To hear more, listen to his audio clip, and read a […]
December special Issue: Haunted Hearts
Today we are pleased to present another from the December Special Issue Section: The haunted heart and the Holy Ghost: on retrieval, donation and death, by Joshua Hordern. In his summary of the work, Joshua writes: What is haunting about our hearts? Some people who receive transplanted hearts report a strange feeling of connection to […]
December Issue: NHS on Trial
In today’s summary, we present Putting the NHS England on trial: uncertainty-as-power, evidence and the controversy of PrEP in England by Maurice Nagington and Tony Sandset. The authors provide a short explanation of their work below, and have also provided short audio that speaks to why the topic is important to them. Connect with them […]