Having blood tests or getting blood test results can be worrying and sometimes confusing, especially if communication around them is poor. Dr Jess Watson, a GP and academic clinical lecturer at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, has been exploring how GPs and others working in general practice communicate with patients about blood tests to see if there might be ways of doing it better.
Dr Watson has published several academic papers on the topic, but was keen also to engage with members of the public, particularly in communities whose voices are not always heard in research. She applied for, and was awarded a small amount of SPCR Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) funding to use poetry as a novel approach to PPIE, with a particular focus on underserved communities.
Working with Bristol poet, Fiona Hamilton, Terreka Baptiste, a public contributor, Dr Julie Clayton, an expert in public involvement, and members of the Barton Hill coffee morning in Bristol, Jess ran a series of poetry workshops to get people thinking about their experiences in a creative and inclusive way.
The result was a ‘found poem’, born out of the discussions among workshop participants. The poem was recently published as part of a blog about the project.
The film gives powerful expression to the voices and experiences of participants around the poem’s central theme of ‘It should be we, not us and them’.
Dr Watson said: “Poetry is an exciting way of engaging with communities and gives voice to the lived experiences of participants. We will be using the findings of this project for future research to help people with diverse needs to access and understand their blood test results online.”
For more about this research, see the Accessible Results project page.
Reposted with permission by Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC), Bristol