Arts in Health Book Call for Abstracts

International Journal of

The Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice IJCAIP

New Call for Abstracts for upcoming book….

“Creative Arts in Humane Medicine”

Publisher: Brush Education, Calgary

Editor: Cheryl L. McLean

“Creative Arts in Humane Medicine” will be a contemporary educational textbook, a practice oriented collection which presents stories and illustrative examples demonstrating how the creative arts can be used in multiple ways in medical and health professional education and practice.

This new book follows the success of the CAIP, Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice Series, “Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice, Inquiries for Hope and Change” and “Creative Arts in Community and Cultural Change”, edited by Cheryl McLean, Publisher of The International Journal of The Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice and Dr. Robert Kelly, Professor, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary, published by Detselig Temeron Press, 2010, 2011. “Creative Arts in Humane Medicine” is a project of The International Journal of The Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice and will be published by Brush Education, Calgary. The book is scheduled for release in 2013 and will be available in both hard copy and ebook formats.

About the Book

“Creative Arts in Humane Medicine” will be a much needed educational resource in contemporary medical education and health, a compelling and informative textbook for medical educators, physicians, nurse and health professional educators and their students as well as for those engaged as educators in the Medical Humanities, in Public Health, Health Promotion, Social Work and the Social Services and for others interesting in the burgeoning field of arts and health.

As its title suggests, thematically we are especially interested in how the creative arts are used in many forms to help foster humane medicine and to “humanize” healthcare.

We will be featuring compelling articles about the story of the work in action, contributions that move beyond simple descriptions of arts in health programmes. We want to know, what is the story of this work, the narrative behind the reasoning for using this approach? Was there a particular challenge or need that the work was addressing? What was the intended goal of the programme? What were the results? Although this is not a formal research collection per se, Creative Arts in Humane Medicine is a university level textbook which will be used widely by health educators. The methods and approaches presented should be described within a theoretical and contextual framework, citing available source references and research when possible or referring to other studies supporting this approach. Once the approach is adequately described there will be an “action” component to each contribution with some focus on how the approach might work experientially in practice with suggested exercises, and how to’s for other educators and professionals to help integrate the approach into educational sessions, workshops etc.

In terms of the shape of the book itself, the topics below are a general guide only. Please do not feel restricted by this list. We are open to considering other creative topic suggestions that deal with innovative approach to the arts in humane medicine in medical education and healthcare.

Here are some important areas which have been identified as most relevant to medical educators and those active in healthcare education and practice:

Communication

Arts methods which provide creative opportunities for respectful and open human communication between and among healthcare professionals as well as between practitioners and patients, families etc. (moving beyond simple role plays commonly seen in medicine, how can the arts create dynamic opportunities to increase embodied experience and open the way for critical discussion and potential changes in practice and policy?)

Arts enhancing observational skills, fostering empathy (examples visual art, fabric art, drama, collage etc.)

Ethics

the use of the arts in varied forms to teach about the importance of ethical decision making and challenges (narrative, poetry, drama/other)

Story and Narrative

How story and narrative can be use effectively in medical education and in healthcare

Methods that help provide opportunities for expression/feelings/experience (narratives and personal stories from caregivers and patients, examples)

Humanizing Space: Creative Arts and Applications of Design and Technology in Health

Arts in innovative design and architecture, how design contributes to wellness and a healing environment, 

New ways technology can be used creatively to enhance health education and/or practice (example digital story)

Practitioner Self Care

Burn out, mental health issues, life balance, time management, stress reduction (mindfulness and meditation etc.)

 Creative Arts in Aging and Health

Creative arts methods applied in aging and health for caregivers and older persons

How the creative arts can be helpful for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals in work in death and dying and in palliative care as health professionals and families cope daily with the human realities of death, loss and grief

Multi cultural Perspectives

How other cultures use the creative arts in innovative ways in education and healthcare, aging and health etc.

Humour

How the art of comedy and humour can play a critical role in humanizing medicine/healthcare for caregiver and patients alike.

Instructions for Submitting Abstracts:

We are welcoming abstracts from educators, physicians, nurses, mental health educators and therapists and other health professionals as well as from artists and individuals with compelling stories to tell who have had personal experiences with arts and health.

Please send abstract only (max. 200 wds.) by email to CherylMclean@ijcaip.com as a Word email attachment, “abstract CAHM” in the subject line, before October 22, 2012 deadline. Double space. Please be sure to include your name, affiliations and contact information, email address.

Those selected will be asked to send full papers (max. 6,500 wds.) by January 15, 2013.

All contributors whose full papers are published will receive thank you copies of the book upon publication.

Kindly circulate, thank you.

The Arts Alive and Thriving in Medical Education

C. L. McLean, Publisher IJCAIP


It has been reported that the use of arts and humanities in medical education may help develop observational skills and enhance understanding of the human condition. Programs integrating the arts and humanities in medical education continue to flourish and gain momentum with leading medical schools and universities offering programming such as Stanford School of Medicine, Arts, Humanities and Medicine, established to “promote creative and scholarly work at the intersections between the arts, humanities and medicine in order to enhance understanding of the contextual meanings of illness, healthcare, and the human condition”,  and The Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham with a research programme organized around five research clusters,  Imagination and Creativity; Practice and Practitioner; Policy Politics Collective; Transfiguring and Mind Body Affect.
 

 

In Canada, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Humanities in Medicine, offers five core initiatives: History of Medicine; Narrative Medicine (oral storytelling film, mass media, and literature); Music; Spirituality; and Visual Arts. The Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program at the University of Alberta was launched in May 2006. The program is directed to engendering a balance of scientific knowledge and compassionate care with a mission statement that formally acknowledges “the explicit recognition within the Faculty that clinical practice is both an art and a science.”

The arts are alive and thriving in arts and health and medical education today, offering opportunities for learning and a place for self expression and healing. A leader in the field of Narrative Medicine, Dr. Rita Charon, Professor of Clinical Medicine and Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University has long advocated for the use of narrative in medical education to honour stories of illness. Dr. Arthur Frank, Professor of Sociology, University of Calgary, and author of “The Wounded Storyteller, Body, Illness and Ethics”, writes about the meaningful uses of storytelling for those experiencing illness, “The personal issue of telling stories about illness is to give voice to the body, so the changed body can become once again familiar in these stories.”

In issue 8 of IJCAIP Journal, IJCAIP, http://www.ijcaip.com, "Physicians Speak Out About Arts in Medicine" we offered physicians a place to voice their stories and share how they use the arts in education.

Our featured article “Stories and Society, Using Literature to Teach Medical Students About Public Health and Social Justice,” was contributed by Martin Donohoe, MD, FACP, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Community Health, Portland State University and Senior Physician of Internal Medicine at The Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Centre. Donohoe offered an argument for “enhancing public health education of medical students through the use of literature with the goal of creating activist physicians knowledgeable about, and eager to confront, the social, economic and cultural contributions to illness”. In addition, he generously provided an extensive list of books, articles and resources. A follow up commentary by Dr. Jay Rosenfield, MD, MEd, FRCPC, Vice-Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, stressed the need for continuing research to examine the use of literature and story in medical education further, particularly when linked to advocacy and health of populations and patient outcomes.

Maureen Rappaport MD, FCCFP, is a family doctor who splits her time between working in a busy community practice in Montreal , Quebec, and teaching family medicine residents and medical students. In the article, “The Poetry of Practice” she wrote about the creative writing course she teaches as an elective to fourth year medical students at McGill University, a course that provides an important place for students to express their feelings through narratives and poetry.

Physician and Educator Pippa Hall MD, CCFP, MEd, FCFP, at The University of Ottawa, has been a palliative care physician for over ten years. She has integrated arts into learning activities for pre-licensure students and in post graduate programs as well as in continuing professional development activities in nursing and spiritual care. She explained how she found the arts in many forms provided opportunities for learning while offering new insights into the human condition.

Seema Shah, MD, MSPH, reported on a unique perspective as both a physician and patient who has experienced chronic illness. Working with The University of British Columbia Community Partnerships for Health Professional Education Initiative, she explained how she has facilitated group sessions using literature and story to help teach students about the lived experience of illness.

Our closing commentary explored the exciting potential for other innovative and creative technologies incorporated into teaching and medical education. Kim Bullock, MD, family medicine and emergency room physician, and Director of the Community Health Division and Assistant Director of Service Learning in the Department of Family Medicine at Georgetown University, Medical Centre, Washington, believes digital storytelling in medical education has the potential to “link the social, environmental, and historical issues that influence health and illness through graphics”. “What emerges,” she writes, “are voices from the community that bear witness to issues that influence health including problems related to the environment, housing, public safety violence, inequities ..”

The voices represented in this issue of IJCAIP spoke about progressive approaches to learning that have the potential to offer hope and change in education and in healthcare practice. There may yet be questions to be answered but, given the space, there will always be stories to tell and those who will witness, learn and be transformed.

In addition to editing two books in the CAIP Research Series, "Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice" and "Creative Arts in Research for Community and Cultural Change" published by Detselig Temeron Press, now Brush Educational Publishing, Calgary, Cheryl McLean is also editor of the upcoming book, "Creative Arts in Humane Medicine" to be published in 2013.

Cheryl McLean, Executive Editor, Publisher
The International Journal of The Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice
Editor, CAIP Research Series, "Creative Arts in Interdisciplinary Practice" and "Creative Arts in Research for Community and Cultural Change" Detselig Temeron Press, Calgary
New text, "Creative Arts in Humane Medicine" scheduled for release 2013.

info: CherylMcLean@ijcaip.com