LITERATURE AND HEALTH

DIALOGUES ON CARE

Abstract

Objective: The book "Literatura e Saúde: diálogos sobre o cuidado" is a collection of Brazilian short stories by renowned writers and healthcare professionals who are writers; all reviewed considering Narrative Medicine. This approach to caring for patients and their families, conceived by Rita Charon, advocates recognizing the multiple dimensions of life within people's suffering. It was edited by Eloisa Grossman, an adolescent medicine doctor and professor at UERJ, and prefaced by Fred Coelho, a researcher, writer, and undergraduate professor in the Department of Literature and Graduate Studies in Literature, Culture, and Contemporaneity at PUC-Rio. The writer Andrea del Fuego authored the flap text. The collection is also available online in English under the title "Literature and Health: dialogues on Care". Conclusion: The texts interrelate friendship, loneliness, the experience of illness, grief, and psychological distress, among other aspects of the human being, and raise specific questions about Brazilian society and culture, such as racism, ageism, and environmental pollution. The authors reviewed each work based on an analysis of plots, conflicts, narrative focuses, languages, and characters, believing in the potential of art to foster reflection, interpretation, and imagination among students, professionals, and researchers in the healthcare field. The book comprises 36 short stories, 26 of which are written by renowned Brazilian authors and 10 by authors from the anthology and guests, covering the period from the late 19th century to the present day. As a pedagogical strategy, at the end of the book, some themes, feelings, and problems that can be identified in each story are listed.