Disability and narrative medicine: Challenges and opportunities.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Disability Studies
• Healthcare Equity

Background:

• Healthcare for people with disabilities is significantly inferior to that for non-disabled individuals.
• Negative provider bias, termed 'ableism,' is a major barrier to equitable healthcare.
• Existing efforts to improve healthcare for disabled populations have faced persistent obstacles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore narrative medicine as a pedagogical tool to address negative provider bias and ableism.
• To enhance healthcare providers' ability to understand and meet the needs of patients with disabilities.
• To foster empathy and self-reflection among healthcare students regarding disability.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing narrative medicine principles, including absorbing, writing, and sharing diverse patient perspectives.
• Focusing on developing students' capacity for empathetic listening and critical self-reflection.
• Integrating experiential learning to promote understanding of disability experiences.

Main Results:

• Narrative medicine cultivates imagination and empathy among healthcare students.
• The approach promotes self-reflection on provider biases, including ableism.
• Students demonstrate an enriched capacity to understand and respect patients with disabilities.

Conclusions:

• Narrative medicine serves as an effective pedagogical tool for improving healthcare provider attitudes towards patients with disabilities.
• This method helps providers to better listen to and reflect on the experiences of disabled patients.
• Implementing narrative medicine can contribute to reducing healthcare inequities for people with disabilities.