This is a time when I really wish that my blog from the past couple of years were still up, because then I could point to the entries that I wrote last fall, for the required class on information behavior (though I wrote a little bit about it and linked to my class materials over here). Information behavior
is about the behavior of people with regard to seeking and using information (and any other activity that involves information). Our final project was a presentation on the information behavior of physicians, which is why I sat up and listened when I heard this piece on NPR yesterday morning.
One of the findings our research uncovered was that when doctors ask questions or share information with each other, they overwhelmingly use stories to explain their patients’ histories and their precise medical situations. I find it fascinating and exciting that one doctor and professor has not only observed this phenomenon but devised a method to take advantage of it. From the NPR site:
Dr. Rita Charon, professor of internal medicine, created the narrative medicine program. The idea came to her as an internist, when she was struck with how sickness unfolds in stories. Much of her job involves absorbing people’s stories, deciphering them and then taking action. Dr. Charon says she realized that this narrative aspect of medicine was all around her students, but never openly discussed.
One of the parts of our assignment was to suggest solutions to doctors’ information problems, but we didn’t even think of this. To tell the truth, we didn’t realize that narratives had to be encouraged.
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