Creative Enquiry - The Interview
This poem addresses compassion from my stance as an ethnographic researcher working on a study about the implementation of social prescribing link workers in primary care (1). Compassion is not often discussed in relation to research activities, but is pertinent to the work of listening to people’s life stories (2). As part of the study we are interviewing people who have met with a link worker. The interviews ask people about the reasons they were referred, what work they did with the link worker and what the outcomes were for them. During the interview which inspired this poem, I was moved to tears as the participant, a migrant to the UK, described the coercive control she was subjected to by her partner. Her repetition of racist language he used to terrify her into not seeking support in this country, shocked me to the core. It emerged that the link worker had been able to give this isolated and fearful woman confidence and companionship on her journey of separation from a toxic relationship. Social prescribing can often be painted as an intervention about signposting people to a yoga class or arts group. However, our study shows that it is much more. This was a story of deep compassion shown by the link worker, which allowed for the telling and witnessing of suffering. She enabled the woman to leave a home that had become both her refuge and her prison, and apply for a visa that permitted her to stay in this country. These were huge steps that did not appear on a metric about outcomes. This felt like true person-centred care. Ethnographic interviewing and observation skills are not something that you are taught, but which you learn through doing. They are part of who you are as a person and how you position yourself relative to others (3). The skills also develop with life experience – in this way they may be similar to compassionate healthcare consultation skills (4, 5). Hearing someone’s story is like handling a baby: to be treated with care and sensitivity. In health services research, many people are interviewed because something is troubling them. Sometimes they are in pain – physical or psychological. As an interviewer we have no service to offer, no help to give. We simply want to listen and to understand life from someone else’s perspective. It can feel like an intrusion, yet it is a privilege to be allowed to hear these stories, which are often very moving. The weight of responsibility to honour such personal stories can feel heavy as we seek to analyse and dissect. My hope and intention is that we do this with integrity, respect and compassion. Acknowledgement: Thanks to Stephanie Tierney for advice and comments on earlier drafts. References 1. Gilbert P. Compassion: From Its Evolution to a Psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychology. 2020;11. 2. Tierney S. What place does compassion hold in the conduct and production of health services research? Journal of Compassionate Health Care. 2018;5(1):1. 3. Atkinson P. Ethnography: Principles in practice: Routledge; 2007. 4. Bivins R, Tierney S, Seers K. Compassionate care: not easy, not free, not only nurses. BMJ Quality & Safety. 2017;26(12):1023. 5. Krishnasamy C, Ong SY, Loo ME, Thistlethwaite J. How does medical education affect empathy and compassion in medical students? A meta-ethnography: BEME Guide No. 57. Medical Teacher. 2019;41(11):1220-31.