The patient's narrative of suffering: a path to health?

Abstract

The aim of this interpretative research synthesis was to develop a theoretical understanding of how a narrative approach in a caring conversation enables the patient to understand and find meaning in suffering, and how this in turn may be a path to health. The material consisted of 23 articles published between 1990 and 1997 in caring and nursing journals. The synthesis is summed up in a model for narrative understanding in a caring conservation consisting of three phases in which the patient is encouraged:(i) to tell stories describing why the suffering has come about, how things are at present, and what is wanted and needed; (ii)to make up a narrative of suffering that follows the actual course of events; and (iii) to reconnect to their life history, that is to reflect on the point or lesson to be learned in order to achieve a new wholeness. The model may be linked with and used in the clinical setting, and it also raises questions for further research in the area of communication in health care.