Finding a voice ‘One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter.’ James Earl Jones Digital stories give a voice to people who are not ordinarily heard: the Patient Voices programme gives a voice to the patients, carers and clinicians whose experiences are determined by decision-makers often far-removed from care. Many of these people struggle to find a voice, protest that they don’t have any stories to tell or that their stories aren’t worthy of telling – or may, literally, not have a voice. The power of digital stories relies on the voice of the storyteller to speak from personal experience, whether the story is about a particular event or a larger issue. If the subject matter is important, there is likely to be an emotional commitment and this in turn leads to thoughtful and meaningful drafting of the story. Patient Voices give patients, carers and and healthcare professionals a chance to engage in a genuine dialogue with representatives of the health service at various levels, to share experiences and exchange opinions in a safe and contained way, rather like Wordsworth’s ‘emotion recollected in tranquillity’. The dialogue can continue after viewing the stories, both internally and externally, but without having to deal with the immediacy of the emotion.
Injustice and healthcare ‘Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.’ Martin Luther King Jr Between professionals as well as between professionals and patients.
Patient Voices patience, noun. calm endurance of pain or any provocation; perseverance patient, adj. having or showing patience voice, verb. give utterance to, express Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1964
Thank you Mitch Albom, 2004 www.patientvoices.org.uk/stories.htm ‘Each affects the other and the other affects the next and the world is full of stories and the stories are all one.’ Mitch Albom, 2004 pip@pilgrimprojects.co.uk tony@pilgrimprojects.co.uk @PilgrimPip @PatientVoicesUk www.patientvoices.org.uk/stories.htm