Literature and Medicine -
Humanities at the Heart of Healthcare

Download a Power Point slide show on the Literature and Medicine program.

The New Hampshire Humanities Council has taken its promise to help create a healing environment to heart through Literature and Medicine, our hospital-based reading and discussion series. The project has ambitious goals: to build collegiality and team cohesion, to increase empathy and communication skills, to investigate tradition-bound roles that hinder best practices, and to refresh the healthcare environment.

With the help of a $10,000 grant from the Endowment for Health and $5,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and with additional funding from their new program partner, the NH Medical Society, the Humanities Council will sponsor programs at 10 sites in 2006 including New Hampshire State Hospital, Littleton Hospital, Concord Hospital, Parkland Medical Center, St. Joseph's Hospital and Southern New Hampshire Medical Center. Linking professional development to non-clinical knowledge is not a new idea, but using great works of literature as a filter through which medical personnel can approach difficult subjects safely and profoundly is unique.

Hospital staffs meet regularly for conversation, to refresh themselves with fun and intriguing discussion of literature, and to grapple with questions about the human condition. A specially trained humanities scholar serves as the facilitator for all discussions and anyone is welcome to participate - doctors, nurses, pastoral counselors, ethics committee members, volunteers, administrators, and support staff.

Program evaluations have indicated that a stronger connection between the world of medicine and the world of lived experience leads to deeper competency in understanding cultural diversity; it breaks down entrenched hierarchies and cliques; and helps transform the healthcare environment into an arts and humanities-friendly space. Ultimately, the discussions promote a healing environment – a goal we can all take to heart.

For more information on Literature and Medicine programs, please contact Kathy Smith at 603-224-4071 x15 or ksmith@nhhc.org.