Research-Based Theater in the Pediatric Oncology Setting: Balancing Ethical Tensions

Abstract

Research-based theater (RbT) in health care and medical education settings generates unique ethical discourses, particularly when involving pediatric patients. Ed’s Story: The Dragon Chronicles (Ed’s Story) is a verbatim play based on the journal of a teenaged oncology patient, and 25 interviews conducted after his death with his family and multidisciplinary health professional team. The development, dissemination, and evaluation of Ed’s Story will be retrospectively analyzed in order to highlight and discuss ethical tensions, with specific focus on tensions related to participants, including Ed and the interviewees; RbT practitioners and researchers; and audiences, namely, medical trainees who participated in mandatory curriculum viewing. Where applicable, similar projects described in the literature will be reviewed in order to highlight strategies to mitigate these tensions.