In search of stories: Narrative-aesthetic interventions to hear cancer patients’ voices by Hanneke Larrhoven

With a spotlight on palliative arts, our series of No.17 Talks offer a welcoming, critical and creative space for sharing practice, research and innovation. Our talks are offered as hybrid events. You are welcome to join us at our beautiful No.17 events venue or participate online via Zoom. 

Cancer care today requires more than treatment directed at the tumor only. Beyond tumor biology, it demands an understanding of the broader socio-cultural environment of a patient which plays a critical role in shaping patient well-being, and requires innovative supportive care interventions. This presentation will highlight the approaches developed in the context of the research line Contingency, Culture & Oncology (CCO), of the Department of Medical Oncology of the Amsterdam UMC, Cancer Center Amsterdam.

Being ‘in search for stories’ may be regarded as one of the defining characteristics of human beings. However, stories that people tell about their lives require ongoing revision, especially in the face of significant and unexpected life events, such as an incurable cancer diagnosis. While usually the integration of desired or hoped-for major events into one's life story does not pose a challenge to people, the diagnosis of an incurable disease can prompt existential questions such as: “Why me?” and “Who am I now?”

The CCO program builds on the idea that rewriting one's life story unfolds in interaction with other people, but may also occur in interaction with meaning-making resources including, for instance, literature, poetry, music, and visual art. Interacting with art entails a specific mode of relating to reality: to view a work of art as “art”, it is essential to perceive it with a degree of distance and abstraction, which may be key to facilitate individuals to self-distance and view their own life story in a novel manner.

This presentation will highlight current CCO initiatives, emphasizing how a narrative-aesthetic approach can be transformed into actionable strategies for personalized cancer care. Additionally, we will explore the development of innovative measurement instruments that can do justice to the complexities of patient experiences while providing the necessary evidence to support integration of our strategies within the medical community.

Hanneke Laarhoven is professor of translational medical oncology at the University of Amsterdam and head of the Department of Medical Oncology of the Amsterdam University Medical Center. Van Laarhoven is a staunch advocate of interdisciplinarity, as is evidenced by her two masters - in Medicine and Theology, as well as her two PhDs - in Medical Oncology and Religious Studies. In her quest for new, better treatment options for cancer patients, she seeks collaboration with both the sciences and the humanities.

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