Drawn to true stories of challenge and triumph, especially if they are set in a medical milieu? Care about improving the health care system? Love good writing that makes you stop and think about your own life? In this series, I'll share some of my favourite and most thought-provoking books on health, healing, and the system around it all.If you are lucky enough to have a local independent bookseller, please consider sourcing these books directly.
The author describes his book as a survival kit, “put together out of my need to make sense of my own survival as I watch others trying to make sense of theirs.” He presents both a theory about the importance of telling stories as well as a number of medical narratives themselves.
A compelling collection of personal narratives of nurses from across the globe, demonstrating professional courage, advocacy, skill, ingenuity and persistence, as they struggle with daily challenges
An in-depth exploration about writing as healing. Extensive references to the motivations and healing effects of the writings of many authors are provided as well. The book contains valuable advice and practical techniques to get started, to develop narratives, to connect events with emotions, to bring projects to conclusions, and to share with others. Excellent sources for further reading.
These are stories from the point of view of family members who are providing caregiving for loved ones at home—one of the most difficult challenges anyone will ever face. In addition to case studies, the book includes information on where to get help and contributions from those involved in hospice care, as well as complementary and alternative medicine.
Trained to zero in on a main symptom or chief complaint, doctors can miss important symptoms or facts which could steer them to a more accurate diagnosis. The authors, both doctors, offer patients and families a variety of tools to help them become active partners in their own care including “The 8 Pillars to Better Diagnosis”.
Doctor-written essays bring together science and the soul, logic and feeling, and knowledge and wisdom. Dropping the masks necessary to communicate stability, these doctors have reveal the very human turmoil of their hearts and minds.
A young neurosurgeon share reflections on various experiences and choices in his life after he is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. His moving story is one of humility and courage along with the awe and wonder of becoming a father. The epilogue of the author’s last days, by his wife Lucy, is exquisite—she says: “His strength was defined by ambition and effort, but also by softness, the opposite of bitterness.”
This is a frank and moving film which reflects the views and feelings of patients and families who have experienced the impact of medical error. The perspectives of the patients and families offer insights that could improve the healthcare system and provider/patient communication.
This book is a social awareness project, combining stories and photography designed to inspire young people under 30 who are diagnosed with cancer to know that they are not alone and that they can fight and win.