Introduction

Squier, Susan Merrill; Krüger-Fürhoff, Irmela Marei

doi:10.1515/9780271087337-001

Cited by 1 publication

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“…As we see rising rates of PTSD symptoms in those who have been on the frontlines of the pandemic and those who have had COVID-19, it is ever more important to take our cues from trauma-informed approaches to understanding what we have lived through as a collective trauma ( Carmassi et al, 2020 ; Kaseda & Levine, 2020 ). Graphic medicine has a history of being used all across the world as a means by which to address highly sensitive and difficult subjects including cancer, sexual violence, mental illness, death and dying, and COVID-19, in one-off ways, and as part of larger scale projects ( Chatfield, 2020 ; Forney, 2012 ; Squier & Krüger-Fürhoff, 2020 ; Una, 2015 ; Weaver-Hightower, 2017 ). Therefore, it made sense to apply graphic medicine to the challenge of health care provider well-being amid this pandemic.…”

Section: Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creating Comics to Address Well-Being and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

West

Jackson

Spears

et al. 2021

Health Promotion Practice

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In this descriptive case series, we detail the theoretical basis, methodology, and impact of a small-scale pilot implementation of graphic medicine workshops as an innovative approach to well-being and resilience in the age of COVID-19 and increasing awareness of racial injustice. The data provided in this article are anecdotal and based on participation in the workshops. Images created during the workshops are also shared as examples of the types of reflection that graphic medicine can enable. The workshops themselves were designed collaboratively and are based on the theoretical principles of graphic medicine, narrative medicine, and racial and social justice. They were conducted as part of a larger wellness initiative and were offered to health care-focused faculty at our academic medical institution. Our findings suggest that this was a beneficial activity which helped participants to reflect and reconsider their experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and surging awareness of racial injustice. Reflections also showed that drawings were correlated with ProQOL scores and may, in larger numbers, also help to mitigate or bring attention to issues of burnout in frontline providers. Drawings shared show the tremendous impact of COVID-19 and the simultaneous chaos and emptiness of practicing during dual pandemics. Our workshops engaged about 20 frontline health care providers and other health care faculty and highlight the utility of graphic medicine as a tool for building resilience and encouraging self-reflection. Further study is necessary, as is more rigorous analysis of the relationship between the graphics created and the ability to recognize and mitigate burnout.

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