This research aims to identify the Medical Humanities’ constitutive elements and their operational role in the development of professional skills for healthcare practitioners. Within a sequential multi-method design it is possible to identify – through a grounded theory research – an empirical theory of the MH in Italy, which is then compared with the meaningful English experience. To this aim data are collected and analyzed by adopting a phenomenological approach. The results reveal that MH in Italy are still in their infancy and require a more systemic approach that includes all the actors of the healthcare community. MH projects in the United Kingdom follow two branches of development: on one hand the core of MH is moving from interdisciplinarity to a democratization process; on the other the research dimension seems to prevail on the educational one. To improve the quality of life of patients and healthcare professionals by supporting a scientific epistemology which includes a socio-cultural perspective, MH professionals need to follow a more rigorous methodology and evaluation, to reflect on their hidden personal intention going beyond the moralistic idea of a necessary humanisation of healthcare services, and work on practices to reach a knowledge alive to the present.
Understanding Medical Humanities through a multi-method comparative research design
BEVILACQUA, Alessia Maria Aurora
2012-01-01
Abstract
This research aims to identify the Medical Humanities’ constitutive elements and their operational role in the development of professional skills for healthcare practitioners. Within a sequential multi-method design it is possible to identify – through a grounded theory research – an empirical theory of the MH in Italy, which is then compared with the meaningful English experience. To this aim data are collected and analyzed by adopting a phenomenological approach. The results reveal that MH in Italy are still in their infancy and require a more systemic approach that includes all the actors of the healthcare community. MH projects in the United Kingdom follow two branches of development: on one hand the core of MH is moving from interdisciplinarity to a democratization process; on the other the research dimension seems to prevail on the educational one. To improve the quality of life of patients and healthcare professionals by supporting a scientific epistemology which includes a socio-cultural perspective, MH professionals need to follow a more rigorous methodology and evaluation, to reflect on their hidden personal intention going beyond the moralistic idea of a necessary humanisation of healthcare services, and work on practices to reach a knowledge alive to the present.
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