Health Humanities

Scholar Year: 2022/2023

Courses

Head Teacher Responsability Carmen Sofia Frade Caeiro Head Carla Mendes Pereira Colaborador Nuno Miguel Ramos Pinheiro Colaborador

Weekly workload Hours/week T TP P PL TC S E EL OT TPL O OT/PL Type of classes ,67 ,27 1,2 Lectures Type Teacher Classes Hours Theoretical Totals 1 0,67 Carla Mendes Pereira   0,13 Carmen Caeiro   0,13 Práticas-Laboratórios Totals 1 0,27 Nuno Pinheiro   0,26 Orientação Tutorial Totals 1 1,20 Carmen Caeiro   1,20

Teaching language

English

Intended learning outcomes (Knowledges, skills and competencies to be developed by the students)

At the end of this Curricular Unit (CU) students should:
a. Understand human dimensions of health and disease and the complexity of contexts of health and healthcare;
b. Recognize the value of diverse perspectives in the understanding of narratives on experiences of health and disability;
c. Understand the interdisciplinary foundations in narrative understanding and illness experiences;
d. Recognize the person`s illness experiences in the context of a person-centered and evidence-informed model of care;
e. Apply narrative skills to reflect critically on the clinical encounter;
f. Understand person`s perspectives about health, disease, and disability as well as their expectations regarding healthcare interventions.

Syllabus

Person-centered practice: conceptualization and implication for clinical practice;
Illness and disability narratives: concepts and epistemological framework;
The ethics of clinician writing;
Health professionals` interactions in response to patients` cues and concerns.

Teaching methodologies

The methodology is based on group reflection and follows the principles of transformative learning theory. Since narrative competence is considered a crucial dimension of healthcare delivery, health humanities are used in tutorial sessions to promote the development of narrative skills such as close reading and close listening. The exploration of examples of encounters between health professionals/patients from arts and literature aims to promote the development of capabilities of observation, imagination, interpretation and communication. Reflective writing is also used to promote students` capabilities for reflection, apprehension of details, interpretation, and response to patients.
The aforementioned methodology is also supported by introductory texts or lectures on relevant topics provided to help students to participate in the tutorial sessions.
The CU also integrates opportunities for clinical simulations, with the participation of a professional actor. This approach aims to promote students` reflection about their own performances and facilitate the transference of learning from academy to clinical practice.

Demonstration of the teaching methodologies coherence with the curricular unit's intended learning outcomes

This CU aims to implement humanistic training of students in health care that enables them to recognize, understand and be moved by patients` stories of illness. According to previous research, students who have attended to narrative training strengthened their therapeutic alliances with patients and deepened their ability to adopt or identify others` perspectives, which attains major relevance for person-centered care.
The discussion and reflection in group sessions promotes students` capabilities for exploring and understanding patients` experiences. Lectures on relevant topics are also introduced to inform students` reflection and discussion in tutorial sessions. Through reflective writing students develop capabilities to apprehend/ interpret clinical information and thus have a deeper understanding of the patients` experiences and their own experiences in health contexts. Finally, clinical simulations create opportunities to analyze and reflect about students` performances in applying the knowledge promoted by the curricular unit.

Assessment methodologies and evidences

The assessment includes the performance on tutorial and practical sessions (20%) as well as a written assessment – an illness narrative focused on a real patient (80%).

For the successful completion of this CU, students must attend to 80% of the tutorial/practical sessions and must have a minimum mark 9,5 in the written assessment.

Assessment by examination: A new written assessment - an illness narrative focused on a new patient (100%) is required.

For the successful completion of this CU in exam, students must have a minimum mark 9,5.

Attendance system

The provisions of the Regulation for Academic Activities of IPS and the Specific Regulation of ESS/IPS are applied.

Bibliografia

Beakley, A. (2019) Routledge handbook of the medical humanities. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.
Caeiro, C. Cruz, E. Pereira, C. (2014) Arts, literature and reflective writing as educational strategies to promote narrative reasoning capabilities among physiotherapy students. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 30(8): 572-580.
Charon, R. et al (2017) The principles and practices of narrative medicine. Oxford University Press.
Cole T., Carlin, N., Carson R. (2016) Medical Humanities. An introduction. Cambridge: Cambrigde Universiy Press.
Cruz, E. Caeiro, C. Pereira, C. (2014) A narrative reasoning course to promote patient-centred practice in a physiotherapy undergraduate programme: a qualitative study of final year students". Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 30(4): 254-260.
Fish, D., de Cossart, L. (2019). Critical Thinking, Client Expectations and Patient-Centered Care In: Higgs, J., Jensen, G., Loftus, S., Christensen, N. (Eds.) Clinical Reasoning in the Health Professions (4ed.). Sydney: Elsevier.
Frank, A. (2013) The wounded storyteller. Body, Illness & Ethics. 2nd Edition. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press.
Pallai, E., Tran, K. (2019) Narrative Health: using story to explore definitions of health and address bias in health care. Permanent Journal. 23:18-052.
Whitehead, A., Woods, A. Atkinson, S., Macnaughton, J., Richards, J. (2016). The Edinburgh companion to the critical medical humanities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Observations

These descriptive contents are provisional - Final approval of the Scientific and Pedagogical Councils are pending. The final version will be available soon.