Session 12. Artistic inspiring approaches in health and illness research: Insights on the use of arts-informed methods

Arts-informed research has become prominent in health and illness research in recent years. This approach aims to understand health and illness through the use of a variety of methods, namely: music drama, theatre, dance, pictures, videos, poetry, creative writing, graphic novels, artefacts and diaries. The use of arts-informed methods can help to enrich illness narratives, amplify illness’ cultural representations, contribute to investigate the relationship between doctor and patient, as well patient’s and family experiences, and be included in future healthcare professionals’ training and medical education. The intersection between art and research may challenge the binary thinking and force the break of traditional disciplinary boundaries.

This session intends to provide a space for critically discussing the strengths and the challenges of the use of arts-informed methods in the field of health and illness. We seek contributions that will help to reflect on the use of arts-informed methods, while paying attention to the practical and methodological dilemmas of using these methods. Therefore, we invite contributions, whether theoretical or empirical, that privilege the following themes:

     i) the production of new epistemological forms through arts-informed methods;

     ii) the role of participants (patients, professionals, caregivers) in the co-production of arts-informed methods       practices;

     iii) the ethical and methodological pitfalls in employing arts-informed methods in the field of health and               illness;

     iv) arts-informed methods in medical education and, more generally, in healthcare professionals’ training.

Ana Patrícia Hilário is a Research Fellow at the Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa. She was co-coordinator of the Sociology of Health and Illness section of the European Sociological Association. Her main areas of interest are Sociology of Health and Illness, Sociology of Gender, Sociology of Children, Research Methods and Techniques, Research with Vulnerable Subjects and on Sensitive Topics.

Veronica Moretti is a Senior Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna. Her research interests lie in the field of creative methods for health education, social inequalities and digital health. She is a board member of the Italian Sociological Association (Sociology of Health and Medicine) and one of the founders of the Graphic Medicine Italia association.

Alice Scavarda is Research Fellow at the University of Torino, she is a board member of the Italian Sociological Association (Sociology of Health and Medicine) and one of the founders of the Graphic Medicine Italia association. Her research interests revolve around disability, mental health and arts-informed methods.