The corridors of death
Clinical encounters during a child’s journey with a life-limiting disability raises questions around the dissonance of the hospital environment
Give me a Hand
Diverse quotes around the current healthcare profession in the public domain
Donation
Complexity and apathy around organ and whole-body donation
The Wait
The role of patient’s decisions around life-choices within palliative care
The art of adding beauty to the brain
A GP’s approach to living with dementia as an opportunity for growth in herself offers unorthodox, positive, alternatives
Reflections on the Human Form
Drawing on historical and current perspectives to exploring the richness of human form
Sewing yourself back together
Free-hand embroidery based on exploration of alternative therapies to support post-natal depression.
Living with Genetic Diseases
Living with genetic conditions: identity and self-worth through the metaphor of a child’s experience of society and lack of agency
Beyond Physical Boundaries
The significance of giving space to the unknown in consultations
Under the Iceberg
Individual barriers to seeking clinical help
So you say I can’t do GCSE PE? Well now I’m a Paralympian.
A home visit brings insight into the role of family and societal attitudes around visual impairment
Sweat, Blood and Tears
A student’s personal experience of living with diabetes
Bubble
A hospital visit to a friend profoundly altered bodily and mentally whilst being treated for an eating disorder
The D.R.
The poet processes her first time in the Dissection Room
Breaking News
Concern around physical and mental exhaustion impairing future sensitive communications with patients and relatives
Autism, art and animals
The positive impact of animal companions and the arts for children with autism
My Pain
A young woman’s incapacitating and unvoiced pain – reflection on the need for trust between doctor and patient to achieve vital diagnosis and support
My Mistake
Hypothetical exploration of a young patient dying due to the poet’s oversight
Who says graffiti isn’t art
Musings on a commonly held misconception
Resilience in the siblings of disabled children
An insider perspective around disability within the family unit contextualized through current research
Im Abendrot (Eichendorff)
Thoughts around embracing death and learning from the wisdom of age
Crumpled Sheets
A multi-sensory embodiment of depression
Fire and Snow
The early trauma of visiting the poet’s mother’s in hospital re-visited
Doubt
A young doctor on a ward feeling inadequate and overwhelmed despite his committment to the medical profession
Dear Diary
Prose in diary form – composite fictional account. based on observations of patients in an oncology clinic
Happy Birthday Helen
Considering the shortened life of the author’s elder sister
Attention: This Building is Unsafe and Likely to Collapse
A daughter shares how her mother handled terminal lung disease both through writing poetry and publishing practical ideas to support family and friends through a cancer diagnosis
Songs of Courage
Healing through music therapy inspires a student’s poem
The Meeting
How an isolated, shared experience, albeit brief – can forge a unique bond and impact on your life
A Little Boy, A Little Time
The heart-wrenching impact of encountering young children with life limiting AIDS/HIV upon the author
Hope
The determination of a mother to ensure her son’s survival following a motor-cycle accident
Healing power of prayer
The role of faith in well-being under multi-perspectives scrutiny
My mind is not my own
A visual and audio interpretation of the impact of a stroke on a particular patient based on his detailed embodied descriptions
Life… injecting it or sucking it away?
The struggle to break the cycle of addiction explored
Loss
The unexpected emotional impact of a family doctor’s concern for a man whose wife died of cancer
Flight
Humorous account of a daughter/carer leaving this role after much provocation
Living with Alcoholism
The author’s experience as child/carer alongside her mother’s addiction
Thirst
Poem about author’s initial denial of diabetes
This is your Grandad
The death of a grandparent highlights tensions between bio-medical knowledges and personal loss.
How Am I?
Prose inspired by meeting a distraught, terminally-ill mother who had just given birth
The Ripple Effect
Conflicts and complexity of care – inspired by a mother’s personal experience
CANCER?
A medical student’s mixed response to his mother’s suspected cancer diagnosis