Literature & Medicine Humanities at the Heart of Health Care®
Synapse ::: Winter 2004/05 ::: Volume I, Number 2
Literature & Medicine: National Connections
CONNECTICUT
The Connecticut Humanities
Council is pleased to announce that its first Literature &
Medicine: Humanities in the Heart of Health Care® seminar began
in September 2004 in Bridgeport Hospital. Mark Schenker,
Dean of Academic Affairs for Yale College and long-time book discussion
leader, is our facilitator. Texts include selections from On
Doctoring, What
the Body Told, The
Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, and Frankenstein.
A second site will come on board in January 2005. The University of
Connecticut School of Medicine-Department of Medical Humanities, Health
Law and Ethics will undertake the program which will be facilitated
by Hedda Kopf, Adjunct Associate Professor of English, Quinnipiac
College. The medical school is attached to the UConn Health Center
which serves as a teaching hospital. Our preliminary meetings with medical
school staff indicated a deep-felt need for a program of this kind in
a teaching environment; we look forward to working with faculty, staff
and providers to bring Literature & Medicine to fruition there
this winter. ::: back to top
ILLINOIS
The Illinois Humanities
Council held its first Literature & Medicine seminar
at Central DuPage Hospital (CDH) in Winfield in February 2003,
under the direction of program facilitator Amy Levin, Assoc. Professor
of English and Director of Women’s Studies at Northern Illinois University.
We have now successfully run three seminars at the CDH site, and will
begin again there in January 2005. Phoebe Stein Davis on the IHC
staff is working closely with Amy and two very good liaisons from CDH,
physician Carrie Nankervis and Julie Stielstra, the hospital
librarian. The first seminar at CDH had 25 participants from a wide range
of areas in the hospital including doctors, nurses, scheduling staff,
hospice workers, and pastoral care/spiritual staff. The second seminar,
begun just as a second round of layoffs and a major review of the hospital
were beginning, had 10 participants (with similar diversity, however).
The most recent seminar, which began in June, was full with 19 participants,
testimony to the fact that participants and administration view the program
as a “community building” experience for beleaguered hospital
staff. The hospital administration has demonstrated “buy in”
in the program; it is now a line item in the library department’s budget
(after the first seminar, the program is run on a cost-share basis). Amy
also began a new Lit & Med seminar at Kishwaukee Hospital
in DeKalb in August. Again, the group is good-sized (20 participants)
and diverse not only in staff responsibilities, but also in ethnic background
of participants, Amy reports. They are very enthusiastic about the program.
We are also happy to announce that our first Chicago-area Lit & Med site began in October at Palliative Care Center & Hospice of the North Shore. The seminar attracted 27 participants, including a diversity of staff form the Hospice community there. Geraldine Gorman, M.A. (Literature), RN, Ph.D. (Nursing), has agreed to be our facilitator for that site.
This summer, Carrie, Julie, and Gerry were thrilled to attend the Literature
& Medicine training offered by the Maine Humanities Council. :::
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MAINE
The Maine Humanities
Council looks forward to its ninth year of offering the Literature
& Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care® program.
We will be working with 13 sites in 2005, most of whom will be hosting
Literature & Medicine seminars for their fourth year or more.
Among those participating is Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor,
which holds the distinction of being the first hospital in the country
to host Literature & Medicine and of having the longest
running program; EMMC has hosted the Literature & Medicine
every year since 1997 and the program is still going strong!
Contingent on funding, we also hope to work with two new sites that specialize in mental health care in 2005: Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook and Sweetser in Brunswick.
MHC remains very committed to Literature & Medicine because of the often-profound impact that it continues to have on the lives of health care professionals in Maine. Whether the discussions center around the lives of the working poor as presented in Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich or an exploration of how illness and its after effects can determine one’s identity, as seen in Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face, participants continue to make important connections between the literature discussed and their work with colleagues and, especially, patients. Here is what a social worker has written about her experience with the program:
I’ve really enjoyed the Literature & Medicine group we have had at the hospital. The subject matter of the books we read, as well as the discussions that have occurred, have often helped me personally in my hospital social work. Listening to other perspectives and interpretations of various topics helps me be to be more empathetic to diverse points of view.
The interaction that occurs in the group allows me to get to know the people I work with everyday in a whole different way. Everyone realizes that we are all equal in the discussion groups, whereas the hierarchy of medicine sometimes gets in the way during a typical work day, prohibiting us from getting to know each other as individuals.
Another participant echoed this, and stated that the discussions provided her with “a truly remarkable experience — it feels wonderful to come back to why I was attracted to medicine in the beginning and to share dialogue with others who care.”
In June, scholars, liaisons, and council staff from each of our new partnering
states (Connecticut, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, and South
Carolina) and several representatives from our other state partners attended
our second Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of
Health Care® Summer Institute. The Institute provided
those new to the Literature & Medicine program with the training
they need to successfully organize seminars in their states. Veteran Maine
Lit & Med liaisons Emily Scribner, Cynthia Seefahrt,
Carole Webber, Tom Lizotte and Geoff Gratwick were
among the panelists. The Institute was made possible by a grant from the
Society for the Arts in Health Care/Johnson & Johnson Partnership
to Promote Arts and Healing Program. For more details about the Institute,
please see this month’s Special Announcements.
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MARYLAND
Maryland Humanities Council is pleased
to announce that Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore (MMC) will be
its first Literature & Medicine site. The program at MMC will
begin in 2005, with Sister Mary Jeremy Daigler, RSM acting as the liaison
for the hospital. ::: back to top
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Foundation
for the Humanities will have four Literature & Medicine
sites in 2005: University of Massachusetts-Memorial Medical Center
in Worcester and Faulkner Hospital in Boston, both participating
for their third year; Lahey Clinic in Burlington, for a second
year; and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, which
will offer the program for the first time. Noted poet and essayist Rafael
Campo, M.D. was instrumental in bringing the program to Beth Israel
Deaconess, where he is a member of the medical staff. :::
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MONTANA
After participating in the 2004 Institute, Montana
Committee for the Humanities will start its first Literature
& Medicine seminar at St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula.
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NEBRASKA
The Nebraska
Humanities Council participated in Maine’s Literature
& Medicine Institute in 2004. NHC is currently assessing how it
might incorporate Literature & Medicine into its program offerings.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
In 2004, New Hampshire
Humanities Council continued its Literature & Medicine
series, which has been known in New Hampshire as "Communities of
Care," at locations statewide, in both new and veteran program sites.
Support for 2004 programming was received from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue
Shield. The Littleton Regional Hospital will again host the series
beginning in January, 2005. In addition, the NHHC will participate in
a half-day symposium for NH’s healthcare decision-makers entitled
“Creating a Healing Environment: The Power of the Arts and Humanities”on
January 28, 2005 at Concord Hospital. “Communities of Care”will
be featured at one of eight break-out sessions. The NHHC is considering
listing "Communities of Care" in its Humanities To Go! catalogue
of pre-approved programs, making it available to any community group in
the state through a simple application form. :::
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NEW JERSEY
The New Jersey Council
for the Humanities is in its inaugural year of the Literature
& Medicine program. Four hospitals from around the state will
begin seminars in January, 2005: The Cancer Institute of New Jersey,
New Brunswick; Mountainside Hospital, Montclair; Atlantic City
Medical Center, Atlantic City/Pomona; and Overlook Hospital,
Summit. All four hospitals are in the recruitment and final planning stages
and are excited to begin their programs! On November 11, The Cancer Institute
of New Jersey hosted a Grand Rounds on Literature & Medicine
led by guest speaker Dr. Charles Alexander, a Maine Humanities
Council board member and long-time hospital liaison for the program in
Maine. Dr. Alexander read aloud Hemingway’s “Indian
Camp,” then led the audience through a discussion of the story
and its relation to their work and experiences as health care professionals. :::
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NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina
Humanities Council successfully offered its first Literature
& Medicine program at Wesley Long Community Hospital in
Greensboro, North Carolina in 2004. In a focus group after the seminars
were completed, participants stated that the Literature & Medicine
program had a significant impact on their professional lives; in addition
to helping participants improve their communication skills, the program
also helped them better understand their colleagues, increased their empathy
for their patients, and helped them cope with feelings of burn-out. Here
is some of what they said:
The program really impacted my communication. [Especially] the one reading [The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman], about the little girl with epilepsy and how her family didn’t understand it. They were from another country; we have a lot of Spanish and Vietnamese people around us every day and it makes me wonder now, did they understand? I have changed how I approach them and [assess] their understanding of their care.
Another participant stated:
I was really burned out when I started this thing and I did not realize I had some of the biases that I had. And I think the readings helped me get some of those behind me a little bit. And I think I am a better nurse now and I am doing more, so that is good. I have my patience back and tolerance and a little better understanding of some people that I probably would have judged differently before.
A third participant agreed, adding:
I was also really burned out and I was feeling like I was at the point of leaving oncology. And there was one story in particular about an AIDS patient and the doctor feeling like he had nothing to offer [My Own Country, by Abraham Verghese]; sometimes we feel like we don’t have anything to offer. That is how I felt and I was a little frustrated. I now feel connected and feel like I’m not so all alone and I really needed that. And I feel like this group has probably kept me in oncology. And I have been able to share when I see others go through these burn out symptoms.
Participants also spoke about changing their views of physicians:
Specifically what I learned from the group was it really opened my eyes to what doctors do. Some perceptions [I have had] are erroneous and that was a real eye opener. ::: back to top
RHODE ISLAND
In 2004, the Rhode
Island Council for the Humanities (RICH) held Literature &
Medicine seminars at Hasbro Children’s Hospital (Lifespan),
Providence; Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, statewide;
Child and Family Services, Newport; and Women and Infants Hospital,
Providence. RICH will continue to offer the program at 3 sites in 2005
- these include Hasbro, Providence; Neighborhood Health Plan of RI, statewide;
and The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Providence.
Since last year, RICH has been working with the Brown University medical
community to publicize their annual Harriet W. Sheridan Literature
and Medicine Lecture. Participants in RICH’s Lit &
Med program are invited to this annual lecture, as are other members
of the RICH community. In April 2004 the guest speaker was Dr.
Oliver Sacks. In April 2005, Dr.
Ethan Canin will be the guest speaker.
Ethan Canin received a medical degree from Harvard University and studied
writing at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. He is the author of several
books, including Emperor
of Air, in which the short story "We
Are Nighttime Travelers" (a popular Literature & Medicine
program reading) appears. ::: back
to top
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Humanities
Council of South Carolina will host its first Literature &
Medicine seminar at Hall Institute/Columbia Area Mental Health
Center in Columbia beginning in 2005. The Literature & Medicine
program will offer each facility’s staff — who either work directly
with emotionally disturbed children or in supportive or administrative
roles — an opportunity to join together in this unique reading and
discussion group.
The objective of the program in South Carolina is to foster better communication
among professionals working in the demanding field of mental health through
the discussion of literature. Readings will include novels, memoirs, poems,
plays, or essays raising issues related to caring for people with mental
health concerns from a variety of perspectives; we will particularly focus
on readings with connections to South Carolina and mental illness in children.
Through the neutral perspective of literature, we hope that the diverse
individuals who come together in the program will understand one another’s
various roles and that, in the long run, this will enhance patient care.
The group will meet at Columbia Area Mental Health Center one evening
a month from January-June. Participants will have dinner together and
then engage in a lively discussion of that month’s readings led
by an outside facilitator. Readings will be provided free of charge to
participants. ::: back to top
UTAH
Utah Humanities
Council will offer the Literature & Medicine program
as a joint activity of the LDS Hospital Division of Medical Ethics
and the University of Utah Medical School in 2005. :::
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VERMONT
Vermont Humanities
Council (VHC) is gearing up for its third Lit & Med
year with 13 out of a possible 15 hospitals on board. “Both geographically
and population-wise, the state is small,” says Larissa
Vigue Picard, the program’s director, “which has made
100 percent participation in the program a reasonable goal. But Lit
& Med is also an idea that sells itself. Hospitals are eager to
jump on the bandwagon.” Additions to this year’s roster of
sites include the VA Hospital in White River Junction, Grace
Cottage Hospital in Windsor, and Springfield Hospital. Liaisons
at the new sites have been working diligently to recruit participants
for a January start. ::: back to
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