Getting poetic with data: Using poetry to disseminate the first-person voices of parents of children with a disability

Abstract

ObjectiveThis paper considers the limitations of traditional prose-based approaches to research dissemination and explores the potential merits and tensions in adopting a poetic approach to disseminate participants’ experiences and perspectives. DiscussionDrawing on our experience of using I-poetry to create first-person poems from our research data we discuss the attractiveness of the subjective, expressive and relational opportunities of poetry, and its ability to compress experience and create emotional connections and evoke emotion. We also reflect upon and discuss the limitations, challenges and criticisms of the use of research poetry, with a specific focus on the use of data poems and their value in disseminating research findings. ConclusionUsing poetry compelled us to think with our data differently and our poems have generated visceral responses from parents and professionals. Research poetry has value within academic and clinical worlds but its greatest potential perhaps lies in providing a means of disseminating research to the wider range of stakeholders.