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7:00 PM
BMH 101

Dr. Michelle Greason will speak on “Narrative Engagement in Social and Health Care” as part of the annual John McKendy Memorial Lecture on Narrative. The event will take place on Tuesday, November 15 at 7 PM in BMH 101.

“While interest in narrative care is growing, particularly in the fields of gerontology and long-term care, there are few, if any, comprehensive training materials available for social and health care workers to be able to effectively implement narrative training or narrative engagement within their workplaces,” Greason said.

“My goal for this lecture and discussion is to share the purpose and development of a cascading model of narrative care training, as well as how this process resulted in a reconceptualization of the approach from narrative care to narrative engagement. The slight shift in language and approach, from narrative care to engagement, allows for more flexibility, personalization, and authenticity in the conceptualization of a small stories approach to narrative, which better suits diverse social and health care settings.”

Grounded in her own narrative journey and perspective as a structural social worker, Greason will first discuss narrative care generally, exploring the concepts of big and small stories, and then expand to share how a small stories approach to narrative engagement applied in meaningful ways can promote citizenship, shift power dynamics, generate empowerment, and create systemic change in social and health care settings. In these ways, individuals accessing social and health care services have more of a voice and are provided with space and opportunity to become active participants in their stories and experiences.

Dr. Michelle Greason is a registered social worker and an assistant professor at St. Thomas University in the School of Social Work. She has experience in the areas of aging and long-term care (LTC), paediatrics, and working with individuals and families. Her research is largely concerned with policy, structural social work in practice, ethics and ethical decision-making, LTC, as well as narrative engagement, and interdisciplinary work. In all of her research, there is a focus on practical methods of knowledge mobilization, and she values a “bottom-up” approach to research. She is passionate about teaching, experiential learning, and the connection between policy, practice, and social justice.

About the John McKendy Memorial Lecture on Narrative

The annual CIRN lecture is named in honour of Dr. John McKendy, a much loved and respected member of the St. Thomas community and a founding and active member of CIRN until his death in October 2008.  John passionately explored the interplay of discourse and narrative in relation to justice work in our society, a passion reflected in his research, teaching, and activism