Narrative Medicine On line Journal

WHY THE “CHRONICLE OF HEALTHCARE AND NARRATIVE MEDICINE” JOURNAL

There is a great deal of ferment in hospitals and other health institutions, around narrative medicine and what is called Medical Humanities.

Many experiments, projects, and initiatives most likely contribute to raising the quality of care, and the quality of life of health professionals. Almost all health professionals who are applying the narrative approach, indeed, feel enriched inside, even if they are perhaps higher exposed to listen in greater depth to the vulnerability of patients and thus to come into contact with their possible fragility.

On the other hand, narrative listening to the sick person can also activate those inner resources that lead them to choose, to take care of themselves, to redefine the choices of their own existential priorities.

The journals of Narrative Medicine and Scientific Humanities are often in English (and this too is since its bilingualism) and leave no way for dissemination, divulgation, and for cultural and experiential exchange: our journal wishes to consider, as protagonists of the pathway of care, not only doctors, but also other professionals such as nurses, psychologists, social workers, philosophers who deal with bioethics, and many other professions and skills that cannot be sincerely summarized under the name of “narrative medicine“.

For us, “Narrative Health” is the definition, in terms of philosophy and practice to be developed and carried out, that includes the many professionals involved.

This journal chooses every month a particular topic of interest for the health ecosystem: it chooses them “with care”, going from the well-being of health professionals, to the world of children and adolescents, to that of the elderly, to digitization, language, emotions and so on … the list could become endless.

Up to now, this journal is read all over the world thanks to its bilingualism: so, also proud of our health service, we are giving voice to the experiences and knowledge on the topic that comes from Italy, without fleeing from our country, but doing something while staying here.

There’s a lot of noise in the journals about health and healthcare, and every year politicians come out a topic to choose and manipulate: from the ancient Di Bella experimentation, to swine influences, to vaccinations yes/no.

We will not get into this policy, nor will we take part in it, keeping ourselves independent, as it has always been in ISTUD. Therefore, we act by showing these long-standing issues, the facts in the most contralateral way possible, indicating the advantages and disadvantages of the specific issues dealt with.

We invite our readers to submit their writings to the Editorial Committee of the journal so that this knowledge can be collected and read in Italy and worldwide.

The journal is free of charge, even though ISTUD entirely covers the editing costs: we think it should be so in order to reach more people, even in countries that have different social and demographic conditions from ours.

The Editorial Committee is composed by members of the Health Area of ISTUD, members of the Italian Society of Narrative Medicine and international experts on Narrative Medicine.

Narrating does not only mean writing about their selves but also writing about others, commenting on blogs, using dialogue and dialectics and this is what we expect from curious, fascinated and experienced writers and readers of Humanities for Health.

EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE JOURNAL

Director: Maria Giulia Marini, Epidemiologist and Counselor, Director for Innovating health care, ISTUD, Milan

Coordinator: Benedetta D’Astolto, ISTUD

Editorial Board

Carol Ann Farkas, Professor of Medical Humanities, MCPHS, Massachussett College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University, Boston
John Launer: honorary consultant at the Tavistock Clinic, London, and honorary president of the Association of Narrative Practice in Healthcare
Stefania Polvani, President of the Società Italiana di Medicina Narrativa, Italia
Federico Trentanove, Anthropologist, collaborator with Venezia University and member of Board of SIMeN (Italian Society of Narrative Medicine)