Primary Health Care and Narrative Medicine

Primary health care has received a lot of attention since the Alma Ata Conference, convened by the World Health Organization in 1978. Key to the strategy to improve health care outlined at the Alma Ata conference is citizen participation in every phase of service delivery. Although the goals of primary health care have not been achieved, the addition of narrative medicine may facilitate these ends. But a new epistemology is necessary, one that is compatible with narrative medicine, so that local knowledge is elevated in importance and incorporated into the planning, implementation, and evaluation of health programs. In this way, relevant, sustainable, and affordable care can be provided. The aim of this article is to discuss how primary health care might be improved through the introduction of narrative medicine into planning primary health care delivery.