Check Out This Wonderful Resource Which Brings To Life Patient Experiences In Words and Photos:
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care
Faces of Health Care
“Ballads, bons mots and anecdotes give us better insights into the depths of past centuries than grave and voluminous chronicles.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Health care, maybe more than any other industry, is about people.
Yet, at times, human contact appears on the decline in health care. As technology proliferates, health care providers and patients spend less time together.
Policy makers and managers of our health care system are often far removed from the realities of giving and receiving care, and so rarely see the human consequences – both good and bad – of their decisions.
Yet the people who use our health care system, and those who provide the care, have profound and powerful stories to tell. That’s why we’ve created Faces of Health Care, which helps tell these stories.
With Faces of Health Care, we want to give voice to those whose experiences are shaped by health policy decisions: both those who are cared for by our system, as well as those who provide the care.
The approach of Faces of Health Care is inspired by the work of documentary photographers and storytellers, and in particular the work of Brandon Stanton, whose book and website Humans of New York paint a vibrant picture of life in New York City.
These stories are at times raw and angry, but also grateful, compassionate, funny and sad. They provide a window into the human side of health care.
We are very grateful to those who have shared their stories with us.
Faces of Health Care was created by Jeremy Petch & Andreas Laupacis
Interviews by Andreas Laupacis, Wendy Glauser, Seema Marwaha & Jeremy Petch
Photography by Jeremy Petch, Seema Marwaha, Kas Roussy, Melanie MacDonald and Kathryn Young
Sample Narratives:
David – United Church minister with cancer, who talks about spirituality, vulnerability and beside care
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/cancer-religion-philosophy
Francine and her son Cristiano, who spent the first 507 days of his life in hospital, talking about the stress of caring for him at home as well as how she had to fight not to have him taken off life support
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/francine
Lucas who talks about being fired as a patient because he is trans
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/transgender-health-discrimination
Karen Nicole – on dialysis, severe heart failure, rare sarcoma of the heart – talks movingly about how she has advocated for herself yet at the same time knows that at a certain time she may well decide that enough is enough – amazing combination of determination, hope and realism.
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/patient-advocacy-karen-nicole
Diane, who is First Nations, talks about discrimination against aboriginals within the health care system and the impact abuse has had on her life and how she has dealt with it
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/indigenous-nurse-racism-recovery
Sean became a heroin user. He describes his interactions with the health care system and his current role as a peer support worker
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/drug-users-advocacy
Bruce has end stage COPD and lives with his wife Lynn in an isolated house in the country. They talk about his anxiety and their isolation.
http://healthydebate.ca/faces-health-care/copd-caregiving-rural-paramedic-program