And the doctor said....

‘And the Doctor Said….’ is an innovative research project, which uses creative writing as a way of exploring people’s experiences of healthcare in North Staffordshire. A series of workshops led by creative writers, playwrights and storytellers took place during 2013 in four different community venues in and around Stoke-on-Trent. Through creative writing, the participants shared, reflected on and wrote about their health experiences. The activities and writing drew upon their own personal experience and local knowledge: participants were very much at the centre of the project and this made sure that the detail of the creative work they produced was driven by participants themselves, rather than academics. The workshops resulted in diverse, interesting and poignant new creative writings that offer fresh insights and understandings of people’s experiences of health, illness and medicine in the region. The workshops were filmed by Unique Media Production (of Staffordshire University), and the project also resulted in a touring exhibition and a free book of all the creative writing that was produced.