Six short films documenting people’s experience of healthcare received their premiere at the University of Winchester recently.
The event entitled Humanising Healthcare has come out of Life Lens, a collaboration between the University and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT).
Using digital storytelling techniques, people with a range of experiences were invited to share their personal stories through film, photos, and music.
The goal of the project is to foster empathy and understanding among healthcare professionals and healthcare students.
.jpg)
One film, entitled Little Things, dealt movingly with a small gesture of kindness – a nurse helping the storyteller to put on her underwear following surgery.
Other stories touched on themes of autonomy and choice in pregnancy and childbirth, the importance of communication with the families of elderly patients and self-advocacy when exploring a diagnosis.
Two stories explored the experiences of people with learning disabilities in hospital settings and how healthcare professionals can provide better support in a disorientating and potentially scary environment.
These stories will be used for education purposes on health and social care programmes at the university and the hospital.
Tai Frater, Senior Lecturer in Allied Health University of Winchester, said: “We were delighted to host the premiere of the Life Lens project at the university and could share this series of short films which so powerfully illustrate patient’s experiences of hospital care.
“We appreciate our storytellers’ courage and eloquence in sharing their experiences and hope that these films will help health and social care students and professionals to provide more empathic hospital care in the future.
Beth Reed, Patient Experience and Engagement Lead at HHFT said: “The partnership has been a fantastic success, and we hope to continue to work together with The University of Winchester to develop a shared library of digital patient stories.”
The films were screened for the first time at a special event held at the Shakespeare Room in the University’s Business School on 16 July.