Bridging the Gap Between Personalization of Care and Research

Abstract

In our contemporary scientific world, where disease and pathways of care are primarily driven by numbers and statistics on the likelihood of disease and success of therapies, a shortsighted view about narrative medicine is that this “cultural wave” can represent the antidote to the use and abuse of the metric and predictive values of clinical trials and clinical practice. At the end of this chapter, we will discover how Narrative Medicine, despite the differing philosophical issues distinguishing it from EBM, can itself produce “metrics” and numbers—tools that are valid for a fast decision-making. Retracing the genesis of narrative medicine, it is true that at its origin it has placed an emphasis on space and time for greater personalization of care. Narrative medicine has set the basic premises that individuals are profoundly different and patients live, feel, think, and act with rhythms and values in similar and dissimilar ways, especially when confronted with complex issues such as those related to illness and the loss of health and wellness (see Chap. 1).