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Mutual Humanization: A Visual Exploration of Relationships in Medical Care

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Abstract

In this article, I explore the work of the artist Robert Pope (b.1957- d.1992) who published a series of paintings and drawings which documented his decade-long experience with Hodgkin's lymphoma. More widely, Pope was interested in ‘the culture’ of cancer within hospitals and the relationships embedded in experiences of illness and care. Pope published a book that contains much of this work—Illness and Healing: Images of Cancer (1991). Many of the original artworks have been toured throughout Canada and the United Kingdom at cancer centres and medical schools. Using a visual methodology, I present three of Pope’s images to examine and understand the experiences of patients within acute care settings. I conclude that Pope’s work can be efficacious in exploring relationships in acute care settings.

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Correspondence to Catherine Phillips.

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Phillips, C. Mutual Humanization: A Visual Exploration of Relationships in Medical Care. J Med Humanit 33, 109–116 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-012-9175-7

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