Guo Liping
Health and Medical Humanities in China
Guo Liping
School of Health Humanities
Peking University (PKU)
guolp@bjmu.edu.cn
LI Jiexin
School of Health Humanities
Peking University (PKU)
ZHU Jianqiang
School of Health Humanities
Peking University (PKU)
Overview: This panel aims to explore the multifaceted dimensions of health and medical humanities in China, drawing on a diverse range of scholarly perspectives. The panel will delve into the historical and contemporary practices, theoretical frameworks, and cultural specificities that shape the field in China.
Panel Composition:
1. The paper “Medical Humanities in China: An Overview” by Prof. Guo Liping will introduce the history, content and features of the medical humanities in China, and compare it with health humanities, critical medical humanities in the West. The medical humanities in China is an all-encompassing term. Even though it is characterized by instrumentality in training humane doctors, it is regarded as not having linked theories with practice close enough. “Humanistic Medicine” and “Clinical medical humanities” have been proposed to solve the problem. Narrative medicine has been introduced into China to fulfill the function of training humane doctors and has developed very rapidly. Medical humanities scholars in China are also engaged in research related to the body, health, well-being of healthcare professionals, patients and the public.
2. The paper “Understanding the institutional identity of a Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital in Beijing: a lens of linguistic landscape” by Dr. Li Jiexin will examine the linguistic landscape of a Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital in Beijing, exploring its institutional identity at the intersection of tradition, modernity, and globalization.
3. The paper “The moral healing methods for elderly diseases in Chinese Ming and Qing dynasty novels” by Dr. Zhu Jiangiang will discuss the moral healing for diseases afflicting the elderly in fiction in Chinese Ming and Qing dynasties, reflecting on the complex relationship between healing and ethics in ancient and modern China.
Significance: The panel will shed light on the unique contributions of Chinese scholarship to the field of health and medical humanities. By presenting a variety of research findings and perspectives, the panel will enrich the global discourse on health and medical humanities, promoting a deeper understanding of the Chinese context and its implications for international health policy and practice.
Narrative medicine practice in hospice care: a scoping review
Guo Liping
School of Health Humanities
Peking University
guolp@bjmu.edu.cn
Huang Fang
School of Health Humanities
Peking University (PKU)
Narrative medicine has emerged as a significant approach in hospice care, emphasizing the importance of patient stories in understanding their experiences and improving end-of-life care. This scoping review aims to synthesize the current state of narrative medicine practice within hospice care settings globally, with a particular focus on the inclusion of Chinese literature to capture a diverse range of methodologies and findings. The purpose of this review is to identify, map, and analyze the existing literature on narrative medicine in hospice care, highlighting the unique contributions of Chinese scholarship and fostering cross-cultural insights. A systematic literature search will be conducted across a comprehensive range of databases, including four medicine-specific databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE), three multidisciplinary databases (SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Cochrane), and three Chinese databases (CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang). This search strategy ensures a broad and inclusive perspective on narrative medicine applications in hospice care. The review will provide a comprehensive overview of the current literature, identifying key themes, methodologies, and outcomes associated with narrative medicine in hospice care. It will also highlight the distinct perspectives and contributions from Chinese scholars, offering a comparative analysis with Western approaches. This scoping review will contribute to the understanding of narrative medicine in hospice care by presenting a global perspective that includes diverse cultural insights. It will deepen international appreciation for the role of narrative medicine in end-of-life care and promote collaborative efforts across different healthcare systems. The inclusion of Chinese literature in this review is crucial for showcasing the applications of narrative medicine by Chinese scholars and for enriching the global discourse on end-of-life care. This review will serve as a foundation for future research and practice, encouraging cross-cultural dialogue and the development of more personalized, patient-centered hospice care.
Keywords: hospice care; narrative medicine; scoping review; practice"
BIOGRAPHY
Huang Fang, Lecturer, Department of Language and Culture in Medicine, School of Health Humanities; Ph.D. in sociolinguistics, Peking University; Researcher at the Center for Narrative Medicine, Peking University Health Science Center; Member of the Committee on Thanatology and Death Education, Beijing Cancer Prevention and Treatment Society. Her research interests include communication in hospice care, narrative medicine, and medical discourse analysis. She played the important role in the key project of the National Social Science Fund, "Contemporary China's 'Death Discourse' and Development Examination". She conducted the ethnography of communication research to collect first-hand data on interactions and performed a systematic, descriptive linguistic analysis. She integrated the perspectives of doctors, patients and family members, and cumulated important communication cases. Her publications in the domain of hospice care communication delve into the challenges faced in this field and propose potential solutions.
Guo Liping (郭莉萍) is professor of English and dean of the School of Health Humanities, Peking University. She is also the director of Peking University’s Center for Narrative Medicine. She has an MA in English, and a Ph.D in the history of medicine. Her research interests are in narrative medicine and medical humanities education. She has introduced the concept of “narrative medicine” into China and has been leading in the efforts of localization of narrative medicine in China. She led the making and publishing the “Experts’ Consensus on Narrative Medicine in China” (2023). She has been working closely with the Chinese medical community, advocating the importance of listening to patients’ stories and responding to them, while at the same time getting their stories out to society. She and her team has published textbooks of narrative medicine for hospital resident trainees and medical students, as well as guidebooks for teachers of narrative medicine course design nationwide. Together they have provided training to many healthcare professionals – to enable them to listen to patients’ stories, design narrative medicine courses for medical and allied health science students, and to conduct narrative intervention studies with their patients.
BIOGRAPHIES
Guo Liping (郭莉萍) is professor of English and dean of the School of Health Humanities, Peking University. She is also the director of Peking University’s Center for Narrative Medicine. She has an MA in English, and a Ph.D in the history of medicine. Her research interests are in narrative medicine and medical humanities education. She has introduced the concept of “narrative medicine” into China and has been leading in the efforts of localization of narrative medicine in China. She led the making and publishing the “Experts’ Consensus on Narrative Medicine in China (2023)”. She has been working closely with the Chinese medical community, advocating the importance of listening to patients’ stories and responding to them, while at the same time getting their stories out to society. She and her team has published textbooks of narrative medicine for hospital resident trainees and medical students, as well as guidebooks for teachers of narrative medicine course design nationwide. Together they have provided training to many healthcare professionals – to enable them to listen to patients’ stories, design narrative medicine courses for medical and allied health science students, and to conduct narrative intervention studies with their patients.
Huang Fang, Lecturer, Department of Language and Culture in Medicine, School of Health Humanities; Ph.D. in sociolinguistics, Peking University; Researcher at the Center for Narrative Medicine, Peking University Health Science Center; Member of the Committee on Thanatology and Death Education, Beijing Cancer Prevention and Treatment Society. Her research interests include communication in hospice care, narrative medicine, and medical discourse analysis. She played the important role in the key project of the National Social Science Fund, "Contemporary China's 'Death Discourse' and Development Examination". She conducted the ethnography of communication research to collect first-hand data on interactions and performed a systematic, descriptive linguistic analysis. She integrated the perspectives of doctors, patients and family members, and cumulated important communication cases. Her publications in the domain of hospice care communication delve into the challenges faced in this field and propose potential solutions.
Dr. Jiexin Li is a research assistant at the School of Health Humanities, Peking University (PKU). She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics and specializes in the intersection of language and healthcare. Her academic work focuses on aging language services, narrative medicine, the linguistic landscape of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospitals, and healthcare communication. Dr. Li is particularly interested in how language influences patient care and healthcare delivery in diverse contexts, with an emphasis on improving communication between doctors and patients. She has contributed to the field with published research, including the articles “Research on the Construction of Language Service Systems for the Elderly in China” and “Research status and future trends of shared decision-making in China and abroad over the past two decades.” Dr. Li’s interdisciplinary research bridges linguistics, medical humanities, and healthcare practice, fostering a deeper understanding of how language can enhance healthcare quality and cultural sensitivity in medical settings. She continues to explore the evolving role of language in medical communication, with a particular focus on the aging population and the integration of narrative medicine in healthcare practices.
Zhu Jianqiang, a research assistant from the School of Medical Humanities at Peking University, received his Ph.D. in literature from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Peking University. His major was Traditional Chinese Literature, with a specific focus on fiction in Ming and Qing dynasties. During his doctoral studies, his main academic interest was on the phenomenon of ‘Common-Material Creation’ in Chinese fiction. After engaging in the field of narrative medicine, he shifted his research focus to the narration of illness and medical care in fictions in Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as the narrative elements in traditional Chinese medical culture, striving to explore the complex connections between narrative and medicine within the horizon of traditional Chinese culture.