Nogi A1, Zajac-Cox L1, Blanton S1
1Emory University, Division of Physical Therapy, Atlanta, United States
Background: Neurorehabilitation addresses diagnoses with profound impact on individuals' lives, leading to complexities within physical therapy (PT) practice. Drawing from fine arts and humanities disciplines such as literary studies, health humanities (HHs) can provide tools to navigate the complexities of patient care, diversity, and ethical dilemmas while coping with the distress of conflicting beliefs and human suffering. Exploring PT education through the lens of HHs cultivates humanistic qualities in students, resulting in more holistic patient care.
Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate methods that integrate HHs within current neurorehabilitation curriculum and highlight opportunities to enhance learning through innovative, humanities-based teaching strategies, and mentorship for developing skills needed to embrace humanities.
Methods: Learning experiences that may be enhanced though the application of HHs were identified within Emory University's Division of Physical Therapy Neurorehabilitation curriculum. Identified activities were further investigated to determine how HHs fostered professional and personal development.
Results: HHs are embedded into Neurologic Rehabilitation (NR), Advanced Neurologic Rehabilitation (ANR), and the Neurologic PT Residency (NPTR). NR students are exposed to and raise questions related to human suffering during The Quality of Life Panel, in which individuals with disabilities and their caregivers discuss their experiences within healthcare and the community. NR students develop communication skills through an online forum designed to facilitate transparent conversations about ethical dilemmas, prejudices and biases, and disability, death, and grief. After a clinical experience, NR students write reflective narratives and then discuss the described clinical scenarios. ANR students create art or literary works that reflect their understanding of a personal patient interaction, and are challenged with cultural competency, as educators facilitate a discussion of rehabilitation within developing countries. During the NPTR, residents partner with clients to create a reflective narrative, poem, or piece of art that epitomizes rehabilitation. Both ANR students and neuro physical therapy residents have the opportunity to practice physical therapy within a developing country and have guided daily discussions regarding cultural sensitivity, empathy, and how to adapt evidence based practice within an impoverished community while respecting to cultural boundaries. All HHs assignments emphasize human experience and develop skills needed for comprehensive and holistic patient care.
Conclusion(s): Through art, literature, reflective narrative writing, and music, individuals engage in creative ways to analyze familiar scenarios with unique perspectives. HHs provide a foundation for observation, intuition, empathy, self-reflection, and facilitate participation in difficult conversations. HHs are included in the curriculum via guided reflective practice and assignments that probe students to delve into humanistic intricacies with complex communications, biases and prejudices, and debate ethical dilemmas.
Implications: Practical strategies for integration of HHs in established content areas are valuable tools to connect the art of patient care, clinician, and patient. Identifying and further incorporating HHs in the curriculum have the potential to influence the development of observational skills, creativity, intuition, empathy, and self- reflectionqualities that are critical to understanding disabilities, and optimizing rehabilitation. Humanities within PT curriculum needs further investigation to appropriately evaluate student performance and assess methods to measure the influence of HHS on professional development and patient care.
Keywords: Health Humanities, Education, Neurorehabilitation
Funding acknowledgements: There was no funding for this presentation.
Purpose: The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate methods that integrate HHs within current neurorehabilitation curriculum and highlight opportunities to enhance learning through innovative, humanities-based teaching strategies, and mentorship for developing skills needed to embrace humanities.
Methods: Learning experiences that may be enhanced though the application of HHs were identified within Emory University's Division of Physical Therapy Neurorehabilitation curriculum. Identified activities were further investigated to determine how HHs fostered professional and personal development.
Results: HHs are embedded into Neurologic Rehabilitation (NR), Advanced Neurologic Rehabilitation (ANR), and the Neurologic PT Residency (NPTR). NR students are exposed to and raise questions related to human suffering during The Quality of Life Panel, in which individuals with disabilities and their caregivers discuss their experiences within healthcare and the community. NR students develop communication skills through an online forum designed to facilitate transparent conversations about ethical dilemmas, prejudices and biases, and disability, death, and grief. After a clinical experience, NR students write reflective narratives and then discuss the described clinical scenarios. ANR students create art or literary works that reflect their understanding of a personal patient interaction, and are challenged with cultural competency, as educators facilitate a discussion of rehabilitation within developing countries. During the NPTR, residents partner with clients to create a reflective narrative, poem, or piece of art that epitomizes rehabilitation. Both ANR students and neuro physical therapy residents have the opportunity to practice physical therapy within a developing country and have guided daily discussions regarding cultural sensitivity, empathy, and how to adapt evidence based practice within an impoverished community while respecting to cultural boundaries. All HHs assignments emphasize human experience and develop skills needed for comprehensive and holistic patient care.
Conclusion(s): Through art, literature, reflective narrative writing, and music, individuals engage in creative ways to analyze familiar scenarios with unique perspectives. HHs provide a foundation for observation, intuition, empathy, self-reflection, and facilitate participation in difficult conversations. HHs are included in the curriculum via guided reflective practice and assignments that probe students to delve into humanistic intricacies with complex communications, biases and prejudices, and debate ethical dilemmas.
Implications: Practical strategies for integration of HHs in established content areas are valuable tools to connect the art of patient care, clinician, and patient. Identifying and further incorporating HHs in the curriculum have the potential to influence the development of observational skills, creativity, intuition, empathy, and self- reflectionqualities that are critical to understanding disabilities, and optimizing rehabilitation. Humanities within PT curriculum needs further investigation to appropriately evaluate student performance and assess methods to measure the influence of HHS on professional development and patient care.
Keywords: Health Humanities, Education, Neurorehabilitation
Funding acknowledgements: There was no funding for this presentation.
Topic: Education: methods of teaching & learning; Professionalism & ethics; Education: continuing professional development
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: Emory University
Ethics committee: Ethics approval not required.
Reason not required: This study does not need ethical approval, as it address curriculum within physical therapy education and describes how humanities can be fostered within neurorehabilitation.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
