Ato Launiu (“Basket of Life”): What You Carry With You

Our time together will acknowledge trans-generational trauma and the need to decolonize our shared understanding of health and healthcare.

Siva Siva Mai! We invite you to come dance with us. Though we cannot dance together within the constraints in our present moment, we will aim to connect through sharing our origin stories. Through poems and writing together we will develop a shared closeness and depth that decolonizes our community of practice and honors and acknowledges trans-generational trauma. Our aim is to heal our setting, our hearts, and our minds in order to end cycles of suffering and ill health. The readings at this workshop will highlight the cultural context of the works we read, along with the importance of the history and preservation of culture inherent in the accessing, sharing, and learning from the art we share. The materials and perspectives in this workshop will be rooted in Samoan culture and you can read more here. 

Facilitator: I am Elizabeth Anne Mailo Paulson, a south end Seattleite afakasi, mixed Samoan and white. I am pictured above, with my Grandmother. I am a graduate student in the Health Management and Policy dual program at Oregon Health and Science and Portland State University’s School of Public Health. My work has been published in Western Washington University’s “Jeopardy Magazine” and “Hunger Mountain” and was a winner of OHSU Library's annual poetry contest in 2020. Poetry is important to my work because creative writing brings empathy and humanity to healthcare. Poetry is an act of resistance. Poetry is an act of resilience. Poetry is a bridge that connects humanity and science.

Co-Facilitator: Adam Hoverman, DO MPH DTMH is a Family Medicine & Public Health Physician with the Multnomah County Health Department, Clinical Instructor with the University of Washington School of Public Health's Department of Health Services, and a poet by training. 

In this workshop participants will be asked to read, write, and discuss. If you require an accommodation, please contact NWNMC at nwnmc.pdx@gmail.com

Discussion Preparation for the Basket of Life

For this discussion, if you identify as a white individual, we welcome you to this space and to help make it culturally and emotionally safe for all, please ensure that you have considered the following:

1. I have thought about my place in anti-racist dialogues and the reasons for why I want to participate in taking action to reverse racism’s effect on BIPOC persons within healthcare spaces.

2. I’ve considered my role as a white person in the process of racism’s harm on BIPOC persons in healthcare settings.

3. I’ve participated in tough conversations naming racism and am willing to be uncomfortable talking about race and how I’ve benefited from white privilege.

4. I am willing to name whiteness as a system, not a personal attack.

5. I am willing to sit with the discomfort that whiteness affects the health of white persons.

6. As a white person, I am willing to name and acknowledge the experience of objectification. Am I ready for the challenge of being objectified and willing to gauge the impact it has on my health, my body, my person, and my well-being?

7. I am willing to be vulnerable and ask uncomfortable questions and help maintain a space that prioritizes cultural and emotional safety. In this workshop participants will be asked to read, write, and discuss.

Together Well Writing Workshop

The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a bright light on all the ways in which our current healthcare system is broken - provider burnout and stress, patient access, inefficiencies, cost, etc. Most importantly, this public health crisis has made it impossible to ignore the systemic racism and inequities that have always existed in our communities, our institutions, and even in our professional and personal relationships. In response to this, we have created Together Well, a story campaign highlighting the ways that connection, collaboration, and community can help rebuild a new system that centers the human experience, and promotes health, justice and wellbeing for all. Join us in an interactive workshop to WRITE, REVISE, and SHARE your stories of health and healthcare during a global pandemic. To find out more about the TOGETHER WELL project visit the website here.

In this workshop participants will be asked to read, write, and discuss. If you require an accommodation, please contact NWNMC at nwnmc.pdx@gmail.com

Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative is seeking facilitators for our 2021 Community of Practice series. Now in its third year, our monthly gatherings bring together patients, caregivers, artists and healthcare professionals to explore narrative of health, illness, and care taking. Facilitators will identify a narrative medicine-focused theme to explore with the group. Each session lasts 90 minutes and should include time for a writing prompt, discussion, and activity with community participation. Participants will leave with a specific skill that enhances their narrative medicine practice. Selected facilitators will receive a $100 stipend.

If you have attended a past community of practice and have an idea for a session, we want to hear your proposal! Please learn more and submit here. 

We look forward to writing with you in 2021!

The Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa is seeking proposals for their October 2021 Examined Life Conference, Exploring Medicine's Creative Side. They seek proposals that focus on content that you, the presenter(s), are passionate about. All disciplines are welcome.

Shaking the Tree presents Refuge, an in-person multimedia installation opening January 30 and continuing through April 24.  Refuge is a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble. Book your tickets to experience it with your own small group. 

Thank you to the many fantastic people--participants and facilitators--who came together to make our January Narrative Medicine Facilitator Training such a success. One person who deserves an extra Zoom-time shout out:



Sara Murray is a producer and planner who specializes in virtual events and experiences. She was instrumental in bringing our connected, vulnerable, personal, thoughtful narrative medicine work to life across multiple digital platforms—quite a trick of technology!  If you're looking to add a special touch to your virtual event, webinar series, online training, or any digital experience, Sara can help.. Visit saramurrayevents.com or contact saramurrayevents@gmail.com to learn more.