Using Life Stories to Support Patient-Centered Care: A Narrative Review of Implementation and Impact

Area of Science:

• Narrative Medicine
• Patient-Centered Care
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• My Life, My Story (MLMS) is a narrative medicine initiative implemented in various healthcare settings.
• Despite its widespread use, there is limited published research on MLMS.
• The initiative aims to support patient-centered healthcare delivery by collecting patients' life stories.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand the implementation of MLMS.
• To assess the impact of MLMS on patients and providers.
• To identify gaps in current knowledge regarding MLMS.

Main Methods:

• A narrative review of existing literature on MLMS.
• Analysis of implementation variations and shared frameworks.
• Examination of reported patient and provider outcomes.

Main Results:

• MLMS involves patient interviews, story writing from the patient's perspective, revision, and dissemination.
• Typical participants are older and white; research on patient outcomes is sparse.
• Providers and trainees report positive experiences, including enhanced empathy and contextual understanding of care.

Conclusions:

• Existing research on MLMS is limited, particularly regarding patient perspectives and potential drawbacks for marginalized populations.
• Further nuanced, longitudinal, and qualitative research is needed to evaluate the true patient-centeredness of MLMS.
• Current positive outcome measures may not fully capture the initiative's impact.