Professor East Tennessee State University Johnson City, Tennessee
Disclosure(s): No financial or nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Abstract: The medical humanities merge curricular elements including the arts, art therapy, history, and philosophy of medicine, as well as sociologic, anthropologic, cultural, and geographic elements that affect health and its management. This presentation will review the Medical Humanities literature with a particular focus on its relevance for use in audiologic rehabilitation, and in particular, tinnitus management. Elements of the Medical Humanities that could support academic and clinical instruction will be summarized with an emphasis on the suitability of including Medical Humanities material as a valuable resource for use in clinics that serve patients bothered by tinnitus.
Summary:: The medical humanities merge health and its management with the arts, art therapy, history, and philosophy of medicine, as well as sociologic, anthropologic, cultural, and geographic concerns. Shapiro et al. (2009) asserted that the Medical Humanities have a “moral function” and their practice should compel students and providers to (re)evaluate preconceptions, attitudes, and actions in a manner that broadens their scope of interventions and counseling strategies. The objectives of a Medical Humanities approach articulate well with the needs of patients bothered by tinnitus. Such patients benefit from accurate, and relatable information that addresses their prior knowledge and beliefs, as well as their perspectives on suffering and healing. The use of humanities in this context can support both clinical and academic endeavors; when linked to audiologic rehabilitation, for example, the arts offer a perspective and a language that may foster the patient’s adapting to and managing a challenging condition, perhaps one without a simple cure, such as tinnitus.
This presentation will provide a review of the Medical Humanities literature with a particular focus on its relevance and application for tinnitus management. Elements of the Medical Humanities that could support academic instruction regarding tinnitus and its management will be summarized with an emphasis on the suitability of including Medical Humanities content in academic and clinical teaching. Tinnitus management considered in a Medical Humanities context provides counseling elements that can be employed to great effect with patients. For example, Baguley (2015) identified many instances of tinnitus and disorders of sound tolerance appearing in literature and the arts. In addition to providing a novel conduit through which patients may be counseled, such information may also benefit practitioners who participate on interprofessional teams, who practice clinical self-efficacy elements such as verbal persuasion, and who practice or employ unusual and helpful perspectives for a patient struggling with their tinnitus experience. Weaving examples from literature and popular culture with tinnitus counseling may facilitate understanding of tinnitus effects and ubiquity, not just as a day-to-day event in patients’ lives, but as a durable element of the human condition.
While counseling does not cure tinnitus, the interaction between patient and provider(s) should improve when counseling topics include an expansive view of tinnitus and its effects; elements of the tinnitus experience may become relatable to the patient when framed regarding centuries of art and literature, as well as the history of medical reference to tinnitus (ie., Stephens, 2000). We encourage patients to consider that tinnitus existed in society before loud sound, and that its effects have bothered people for centuries. Further, the tinnitus experience is so common that it is used as a trope in movies and literature. Such information may facilitate the patient developing an understanding that the sensation is not unique to them despite the observation that they are the only one who hears it. Medical Humanities training and implementation provide a reasonable fit for the needs of audiology students and practitioners whose work supports a patient’s understanding and management of bothersome tinnitus.
Learning Objectives:
Employ counseling strategies centered on patient-specific experiences and cultural backgrounds
Enhance tinnitus management approaches through use of analogy and references informed by the Medical Humanities
Access resources related to a Medical Humanities approach to clinical interventions
