Weekend 18 - 19

The end of week 18 continued with more interviews of professionals associated with, or involved in the world of Graphic Medicine.

A few months ago, I was informed that UW actually has a Graphic Medicine Librarian!

Toward the end of this busy week, I interviewed Alice Jaggers and requested an interview with Lynly Beard.

Lynly Beard is the University of Washington's Graphic Medicine Librarian- a very fortunate position indeed! I requested an interview with her, to gather some of her professional insight as an individual that is exposed and connected to many sources within my interest. Unfortunately she responded that she was flattered, but not the correct person to interview. She suggested an author of two Graphic Medicine pieces.

On Thursday 2/16 I met with Alice Jaggers, the Multimedia Manager at GraphicMedicine.org . They were lovely, and super stoked about my project. They did say that although they are not a part of the evaluating committee for the Toronto convention competition/award, they do have some concern that the game aspect of my educational materials may not be considered. They said that card/game formats most often do not count for the competition, however we are both hoping that the amount of educational materials and visual comedy is enough to qualify. Alice is most interested in gamification aspects, so we had some good conversation. Alice is the podcaster, and reflects that Empathy is a huge aspect of graphic medicine. They loved the idea of giving this game to healthcare students and patient family members, to offer compassion, explanations, and encourage efficiency and humanity for this field/setting. Alice said, "I don't know whether or not it's 'graphic medicine', but it's fantastic." They asked what my next step is, and suggested getting it in front of the most eyes as possible.

I informed Alice about the concept of a pre- and post- assessment to measure knowledge gained and applied as a result of this game. Because the point of the game for healthcare/clinical students is to develop care practices, I believe it is most practical to have the clinical supervisors and instructors evaluate the uptake and performance of their students. Alice emphasized the importance of measuring qualitative information: "How did this make you feel?" "How did you feel about Dementia/Memory Care before playing this game?" "How do you feel about it now?".

I asked Alice how one might make a career out of this kind of production, to which she said, "I'm an artist too. If you figure it out, let me know!" Herein is an issue that exists within Graphic Medicine- there is a need, but how do you make a connection to explain the need?!

Alice suggested that I should reach out to colleges with Health Humanities, and gather the interest of as many colleges as possible. They advised to get the buy-in of at least one university. They advised PENN State and University of Chicaco, whom have Graphic Medicine programs and are historically willing to consider alternative methods of Healthcare education/communications.

They also recommended alternative publishing paths. There are several individuals at GMO who have unconventional histories before finding their career there. Alice mentioned King County PH Department for open-minded creative approach.

The biggest thing is getting grants, contracts, buy-in, and/or non-profit support. Getting published is better for acknowledgment and payout than private publishing.

The Graphic Medicine community has folx that are primarily artists, medical professionals, or both. The artists often have experience working for zines or newspapers, who then experience a medical problem and create an autobiographical reflection. Then they get published.

Alice and I parted, knowing we would virtually 'see' each other at the Toronto conference in a few months.