Merged Frames: drawing for the consultation room

How can ‘live’ drawing and the use of an illustration during the consultation support and stimulate a more reciprocal form of communication. 

To develop a visual method that stimulates and supports a more reciprocal form of communication, doing justice to the perspectives of the physician as well as from the patient, enabling them to decide from a shared frame of reference and thereby strengthening their collaboration in the shared decision making. 

Alongside this method, a workshop will be developed for doctors, training them to communicate differently with the aid of drawings.

Through ‘live’ drawing and the use of a drawing made by the patient together with an illustrator, more space is created for the patient’s perspective and lived experience. The expectation is that patients will feel more heard. In addition, making a drawing with the trained artist can increase the patient's bodily awareness and provide room for reflection on their own perspective of their health situation. Bringing the representative drawing into the consultation can help to create more space for the patient's perspective and lived experience. The expectation is that patients will feel more listened to.

• A workshop for physicians and other healthcare professionals focusing on awareness and meaning making. 
• Various conversation techniques and a method for conducting conversations using drawings. 
• Interest among various partners in further research. 

The knowledge and experience gained from Merged Frames: drawing for the consultation room will form the basis for a follow-up study on how to implement the developed method (including the workshop) in practice. This will include qualitative research into the intended effects of the method.