Narrative Medicine

In the late twentieth and early twenty‐first centuries, scholars from communication, sociology, and anthropology began promoting narrative theory as a means of communicating illness stories. Their work brought to light the function of storytelling as a sense‐making, healing act for people navigating complex health situations. Patient stories emerged and grew in popularity alongside research addressing narratives in clinical contexts. As the body of research focused on narratives and medicine grew, the field of narrative medicine emerged as a new area for clinicians who recognized a need to humanize their practice by attending to the stories of patients. Led by scholars at Columbia University, most notably Rita Charon, the narrative medicine movement has evolved to become a well‐recognized field of study and practice. Methods of narrative medicine rely heavily on communication skills such as close reading, reflective writing, autoethnography, poetic inquiry, and dialogue. Though initially conceived of in the context of clinician–patient communication, narrative medicine is a hallmark of medical humanities programs and has a growing presence in medical education. Narrative medicine is a key component of health activism across the globe, as observed by an increasing focus on applying narrative medicine strategies to advance social justice; building a global community of narrative medicine clinicians; and using narrative medicine to foster reflection and resilience during the COVID‐19 pandemic.