Category: Events

Health humanities, narrative medicine and the physician-patient relationship: an exploration.

Health humanities is an interdisciplinary field that combines the study of the arts and humanities with health, medicine, and healthcare. It uses methods from disciplines like literature, philosophy, history, ethics, and cultural studies to understand and reflect on health-related issues, focusing on the human experience of illness, wellness, and care. The goal is to improve healthcare practice and our understanding of health by complementing biomedical perspectives with cultural, social, and ethical insights.

Rita Charon, one of the founders of narrative medicine described its importance in her publication in the JAMA of 2001:

“The effective practice of medicine requires narrative competence, that is, the ability to acknowledge, absorb, interpret, and act on the stories and plights of others. Medicine practiced with narrative competence, called narrative medicine, is proposed as a model for humane and effective medical practice. Adopting methods such as close reading of literature and reflective writing allows narrative medicine to examine and illuminate 4 of medicine’s central narrative situations: physician and patient, physician and self, physician and colleagues, and physicians and society.”

Charon R. Narrative Medicine: A Model for Empathy, Reflection, Profession, and Trust. JAMA. 2001;286(15):1897–1902. doi:10.1001/jama.286.15.1897

 

We will be joined by Dr. Sarah Kim and Hartley Jafine from the University of Toronto

Dr. Sarah Kim is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Dance Artist-in-Residence for the Health, Arts & Humanities Program at the University of Toronto. She works as a family physician with focused practices in Narrative Medicine, Internal Family Systems Psychotherapy and Sports & Exercise Medicine.

Hartley Jafine is an instructor in the Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) program and Arts & Science program at McMaster University, where he facilitates theatre and arts-based courses. He is also a lecturer (part-time) with the Department of Family Medicine. His areas of teaching and research are in health humanities, applied theatre, and arts-based research practices.

 

 

 

Programme:

Thursday 11/12/2025, morning session, 10h00-13h00

10h00-10h10: Welcome by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Pieters (CHARM-network)

10h10-10h30: Introduction on health humanities – Dr. Sarah Kim (Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto)

10h30-11h00: Narrative medicine in clinical and ethical decision making with older patients – Prof. Dr. Ruth Piers (Department of internal medicine and paediatrics, UZ Gent/UGent)

11h00-11h20: Break

11h20-11h50: “Two voices on choosing life amid uncertainty”: physician and patient narratives – Dr. Michaël Saerens (Department of internal medicine and paediatrics, UZ Gent/UGent)

11h50-12h20: “The art of (non)-movement and flow in clinical leadership” – Prof. Dr. Dominique Benoit (Department of internal medicine and paediatrics, UZ Gent/UGent)

12h20-13h00: Closing remarks and Q&A

 

onderdag 11/12/2025, afternoon session 15u-18u

15h00 – 15h30: Person-centred care and the human experience of ageing – Prof. Em. Mirko Petrovic (Department of internal medicine and paediatrics, UZ Gent/UGent)

15h30 – 16h00: “Integrating literature and arts in the care for patients at the Ghent University Hospital”– Prof. Dr. Tessa Kerre (Department of internal medicine and paediatrics, UZ Gent/UGent)

16h00 – 16h30: “What if Ivan Ilyich was your patient?” – Compassionate care meets narrative medicine – Prof. Jürgen Pieters (Faculty of Arts and Philosophy UGent) and Dr. Fleur Helewaut (primary care physician, PhD student, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences UGent)

16h30 – 16h50: Break

16h50 – 17h40: Health Humanities, professional identity and compassionate leadership – Dr. Sarah Kim and Hartley Jafine (Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University/University of Toronto)

17h40 – 18h: Q&A and closing remarks

 

Friday 12/12/2025, morning session 10h-12h30:

Workshop “Health Humanities and the art of physician-patient communication” – Hartley Jafine. (Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University/University of Toronto)

 

Friday 12/12/2025, afternoon session 14h00-16h00:

Closing session: “Ways forward for health humanities in contemporary health care”

 

What can technology, art, and care mean for one another in times of ageing populations, digital transformation, and an increasing need for connection?

In this small-scale expert meeting, hosted by the international CHARM network, a group of researchers, practitioners, artists, and partners working in the cultural field explores the intersections of technology, art, and healthcare. We ask how digital tools and artistic practices might jointly contribute to more inclusive, accessible, and meaningful forms of care.

The event opens with a reflection by hematologist and CHARM-promotor Tessa Kerre (Ghent University / Ghent University Hospital), who shares insights into socially engaged projects such as Art on Prescription and Art at the Bedside. Following this, Isabel Vermote (Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium / ‘Museum op Maat’) and Dieter De Witte (Ghent University / Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium) present prototypes from innovative projects that use digital tools to connect people in care settings with art and heritage — both in museums and beyond.

The second half of the meeting will be dedicated to a roundtable discussion, where all participants will reflect on the potential of art as a “soft technology”: not as a substitute, but as an enrichment of care, enhancing mental and emotional well-being. Technology and art here are not merely tools, but invite us into an aesthetic space of encounter, where care relations can be slowed down and deepened.

Date and time: Thursday, 3 July, 16:00–19:00
Location: Room 0.8, Together, The Core, Campus UZ Gent
Entrance 37.C, Heymanslaan 10, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

CHARM Workshop_Digital Futures Program_ Northeastern University, Boston April 2025

Health, Diseases and Environment: Between the Global and the Local
Université de Lorraine, Nancy (France)
5-6 November 2025

As Latour argues in Où atterrir, comment s’orienter en politique (2017), today the term “local” is often associated with nostalgic and defensive positions, linked to particularity, subjectivity, and sensibility, in contrast to the “global,” which is viewed as a horizon of universality, objectivity, and rationality. To claim proximity to patients or communities suffering from toxic exposure risks being perceived as merely expressing emotional responses rather than offering an analytical perspective on the situation.
This is probably why discourses on health, disease and the role of the environment in the emergence of new diseases often prioritise global approaches such as One Health, Global Health and Integrative Health.
In this two-day conference, we aim to take an analytical and critical approach to universal concepts and norms that tend to obscure differences between
individuals, the heterogeneity of situations, and localised or individualised approaches to disease and health.
Our aim is to examine local health practices, particular behaviours, care strategies and exposures to toxic substances in order to understand how people develop care strategies that differ from those promoted by global public health norms, or how individuals sometimes challenge or reject recommendations disseminated by public health discourses.

We particularly welcome proposals from the health humanities, as well as from scholars in literary studies, history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, medical sciences, and public health. Interdisciplinary approaches that bridge the humanities, social sciences, and medical sciences are strongly encouraged.

Scientific Committee
Claire Crignon (Université de Lorraine)
Emanuelle Simon (Université de Lorraine)
Ingrid Volery (Université de Lorraine)
Zoë Ghyselinck (Ghent University)
Jürgen Pieters (Ghent University)

 

We invite proposals on the following topics:
1. The History of Global Health, One Health, and Critical Approaches to These Concepts
Contributions that explore the historical development of global health frameworks, One Health, and the critical perspectives that challenge or expand these ideas.
2. Definitions of the Local and the Diverse Expressions and Manifestations of Local Discourses
Submissions that examine the concept of the “local” in health and disease discourses, highlighting how local contexts shape and inform health practices, beliefs, and interventions.
3. Field Research Addressing Health and Disease Issues Often Overlooked or Undocumented
Contributions that present specific field research uncovering situations and health challenges that are typically underrepresented or unexplored in mainstream health
analyses.

Please send your abstracts (max. 300 words) to claire.crignon@univ-lorraine.fr

In addition to paper proposals, we are also looking for session chairs and discussants, as well as Health Humanities scholars interested in giving short presentations on research and teaching projects during the first day of the conference.

DEADLINE for submission: 15 May 2025