Touching Madness

PA 88/09 The link between madness and creativity is being used to enhance the quality of care offered by the nurses and doctors of the future, thanks to a new global research network based at The University of Nottingham. Despite the recognised importance of literary research in educating medical and health professionals it has had - until now - little sustained collaborative working between US and UK researchers and creative writers within health humanities. The Network encourages critical thinking skills and promotes an empathic climate for clinical practice. It also brings together some of the world's leading experts in the fields of psychiatry, teaching and literature. Head of the MLN, Professor Paul Crawford said: "We wanted to give people a clear opportunity to bring together different strands of the debates around what literature can offer us in terms of insight into experiences of mental difficulty. We wanted to create an innovative community that will share ideas and lead the way in making the best use of one of the greatest resources for understanding others." Professor of Psychiatry and internationally renowned poet, Femi Oyebode, was the keynote speaker at the launch event. He said: "Empathy is like any other skill; it can be developed and trained, and a novel or a film or a poem is a good way of teaching empathy; getting you to stand in someone else's shoes.