Dr. Michael Blackie is a Health Humanities educator at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. His scholarly and teaching interests include health humanities, narrative medicine, death studies, and medical education. Dr. Blackie has an extensive background in Health Humanities. Before coming to UIC in 2017, he co-directed the Center for Literature and Medicine and…
According to the Center for Diseases Control (CDC), health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to “attain his or her full health potential” and no one is “disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.” Health Equity in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic The CDC…
An article by Niels Lynøe et al. examines the patient-staff relationship following an incident where a 39-year old cancer patient published information on her treatment and effects. The dissatisfied patient shared her experience of asking for a new, expensive treatment option. However, she turned into patient blogging when the healthcare staff did not attain her…
In her article Reflections on Writing an Engaging Patient Blog, Sheryl Ness reflects on how blogs can be utilized as a platform for patients to interact virtually and engage in educational conversations. Ness gives an overview of how to start and manage a successful blog. A patient blog should revolve around the collective experiences and…
An essay written by Nance examines the position of illness within a capitalist economy and explores how labor, production, and consumption change through the bodily experiences of illness. In her reflective analysis, Nance expands on the poetics of temporality and the economy of illness by incorporating the poetry of Elizabeth Arnold and Anne Boyer. Nance’s work…
The concept of pain is universal and essential for humankind. Pain ultimately is a protective measure to warn us about instances where our physical and psychological health is in jeopardy. Pain is intertwined with cultural, political, and social settings which form a sense of time and place. Although pain is not solely confined within the…
Functionalism, a theory of mind denoted in Philosophy, explains that a particular mental state depends on its functions rather than its internal constituents. In the discussion of pain, functionalism theory supports the idea that the experience of the mental state of pain is caused by bodily injury. One first experiences the perception of pain and…
Well-being, in ordinary life, is the term we use to describe the state of our health, happiness, and prosperity. A lot of our experiences, from feeling sick after catching a cold to being anxious for an upcoming exam, fall under the umbrella of well-being. In other words, well-being is a multidimensional term used to describe…
