Humans are storytellers. By communicating our experiences, we begin to make
sense of an event or situation. We have found that patients and families dealing with chronic illness or life-limiting
illness indeed benefit from the ability to express what the experience of illness means to them. Some benefits
may be in self-management of disease, as well as an increased connection with others. My interest in communication
of health and illness stems from well documented work done in the fields of narrative medicine and health psychology, but
with the addition of technology in the form of patient blogging to enable those who are isolated by disease or physical
challenges to also tell their stories and connect with the world. This is research in progress, and I would welcome
your thoughts and comments at pressler@stressresources.com
