Application of Literature in Health Sciences. Memory Loss in Lisa Genova’s Still Alice

• Authors: Małgorzata Skrzek-Wielmowiec

Abstracts

EN

Scientists were interested in better patient care and sought the best measures to achieve this goal. One path is through incorporating humanities into medical and healthcare practitioners’ education. The really big idea is that one studies humanities to become a better human, and while there are a billion reasons to study humanities, this paper focuses on how, through art and humanities, people can comprehend health, illness, and disability, namely how literature can be used to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease. This paper introduces the notion of medical and health humanities, briefly summarises their beginning, and how, so far, the applied literature in health sciences has been used. Next, the idea is illustrated in the example of Lisa Genova’s novel Still Alice. This part analyses how sickness and its impact on people’s lives is portrayed. Finally, the article proposes an original mode of application to acquire a deeper insight into illnesses, well-being, and pain that might be fostered in future healthcare providers, as well as a better understanding of patients and their caregivers.

Keywords

EN

health sciences; health humanities; literature; Lisa Genova

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
• Journal: Kultura i Edukacja
• Year: 2023
• Issue: 4(142)
• Pages: 80-94

Dates

published

2023

Contributors

author

Małgorzata Skrzek-Wielmowiec

• The John Paul II Catolic University of Lublin

References

• Alzheimer’s Association. (n.d.). Suspicions and Delusions. https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/stages-behaviors/suspicions-delusions
• Birbeck University of London. (n.d.). Medical Humanities: bodies, cultures and ideas. https://www.bbk.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/medical-humanities-bodies-cultures-and-ideas
• Charon, R. (2012). Medical Narrative. In N. S. Jecker, A. R. Jonsen, R. A. Pearlman. & J. F. Gargiulo (Eds.), An Introduction to History, Methods, and Practice (pp. 210–213). Jones & Barlett Learning.
• Cole, T. R., Carson, R. A., & Carlin, N. S. (2014). Medical Humanities: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
• Columbia. (2023). Division of Narrative Medicine. https://www.mhe.cuimc.columbia.edu/division-narrative-medicine
• Crawford, P., Brown, B., Baker, C., Tischler, V., & Abrams, B. (2015). Health humanities. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Crawford, P., Brown, B., Tischler, V., & Baker, C. (2010). Health humanities: the future of medical humanities. Mental Health Review Journal, 10(3), 4–10.
• Dosani, S. (2021). The value and benefit of narrative medicine for psychiatric practice. BJPsych Bulletin, 45, 274–276. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2020.45
• Durham University. (2023). Medical Humanities. https://www.durham.ac.uk/study/courses/medical-humanities-q3kg07/
• Etters, L., Goodall, D., & Harrison, B. E. (2008). Caregiver burden among dementia patient caregivers: a review of the literature. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 20(8), 423–428.
• Genova, L. (2009). Still Alice. Simon and Schuster.
• Hawkins, A. H. (1999). Reconstructing illness. Studies in pathography. Purdue University Press.
• Health Humanities Consortium. (n.d.). https://healthhumanitiesconsortium.com/about/
• Kampourelli, V. (2022). Historical empathy and medicine: Pathography and empathy in Sophocles’ Philoctetes. Med Health Care and Philos, 25, 561–575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-022-10087-y
• Kasuya, R. T., Polgar-Bailey, P., & Takeuchi, R. (2000). Caregiver burden and burnout: A guide for primary care physicians. Postgraduate Medicine, 108(7), 119–123.
• Klugman, C. M. (2017). How Health Humanities Will Save the Life of The Humanities. J Med Humanities, 38(4), 419–430.
• Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On Death and Dying. Routledge.
• Mahoney, R., Regan, C., Katona, C., & Livingston, G. (2005). Anxiety and Depression in Family Caregivers of People with Alzheimer Disease: The LASER-AD Study. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13(9), 795–801.
• Medicina. (n.d.). Health Humanities. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/medicina/sections/Health_Humanities
• Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Pathography. Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pathography
• Najwyższa Izba Kontroli. (2016). Opieka nad osobami chorymi na chorobę Alzheimera oraz wsparcie dla ich rodzin. https://www.nik.gov.pl/plik/id,13694,vp,16130.pdf
• Pawlikowski, M. (2002). Dehumanization of Contemporary Medicine: Causes and Remedies. Neuroendocrinology Letters, 23, 5–7.
• Puustinen, R., Leiman, M., & Viljanen, A. M., (2003). Medicine and the humanities – theoretical and methodological issues. Medical Humanities, 29, 77–80.
• Steinbock, B. (2003). Using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis to Save a Sibling: The Story of Molly and Adam Nash. In B. Steinbock, J. D. Arras, & A. J. London (Eds.), Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine (pp. 544–545). McGraw-Hill.
• Teske, J. K. (2009). Sanity, Neurosis and Psychosis in the Modern History of the English Narrative. In K. Szmigiero (Ed.), Cultural Representations of Psychiatry and Mental Illness (pp. 305–314). Naukowe Wydawnictwo Piotrowskie.
• Tilburg University. (2023). Health Humanities. https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/education/masters-programs/health-humanities
• Trautmann, J. (1982). The wonders of literature in medical education. Mobius: A Journal for Continuing Education for Professionals in Health Sciences and Health Policy, 2(3), 23–31.
• University College London. (2023). Health Humanities MA. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students/graduate/taught-degrees/health-humanities-ma
• University of East England. (n.d.). MA Medical and Health Humanities. https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/postgraduate/ma-medical-and-health-humanities
• Vannatta, S., & Vannatta, J. (2013). Functional realism: A defense of narrative medicine. The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 38(1), 32–49. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhs060

Identifiers

DOI

10.15804/kie.2023.04.05

Biblioteka Nauki

27177619