Writing Your Own Story: Different Worlds and Different Bodies: Shaping Our Selves Through The Stories We Tell (Webinar) November 30, 2021

Description:

If health care is an art and a science, what can the humanities teach us about our practice, our patients, and ourselves? The humanities ask fundamental questions about what it means to be human, and the meaning of life and death. The exploration of these questions requires going beyond traditional scientific understandings of health and into the domain of disciplines such as history, philosophy, the arts, the social sciences, and ethics.

At the centre of clinical practice are relationships between professionals and patients. The humanities can help professionals to better understand their patients’ perspectives, experiences, and life contexts. They also enable the analysis of broader contexts related to history, culture, and the social structure. These disciplines can also enable health professionals to examine their own experiences, roles, and well-being within health systems.

The course will focus on the development of essential qualities for health professionals including compassion, respect, honesty, justice, critical inquiry, and reflection.

By the end of this workshop you will be able to

• Develop skills related to critical and creative thinking, inquiry, and reflection.
• Explore how different ways of knowing shape health practice.
• Examine how cultural beliefs and values influence our understanding of and approaches to health.
• Consider patient perspectives and narratives as tools for fostering better relationships.
• Explore the role of health professionals in modern society as a product of history, culture, and the social structure.

Log in information will be sent to webinar registrants prior to the event.

Bio: Amanda Leduc is the author of the novel THE CENTAUR’S WIFE (Random House Canada, 2021) and the non-fiction book DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE (Coach House Books, 2020), which was shortlisted for the 2020 Governor General’s Award in Nonfiction and longlisted for the 2020 Barbellion Prize. She is also the author of an earlier novel, THE MIRACLES OF ORDINARY MEN (ECW Press, 2013). She has cerebral palsy and lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where she serves as the Communications Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories.

Facilitators:  Susan Wingert and guest speaker Dr. Amanda Leduc