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Abstract
The Dutch graphic novel Naasten, about palliative family caregiving, is the product of an interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers and two comic artists. This paper aims to present lessons, reflections and practical recommendations for other researchers interested in adopting (comic) arts-based research methods, in which artistic methods are used as novel ways for generating, analysing, interpreting or representing research data.
Our project started with the goal of translation: we aimed at representing research findings into a more accessible, visual and textual form to stimulate discussion and reflection outside academia on moral challenges in family care. This was inspired by comics’ hypothesised potential to show complex and embodied experiences, thus enabling more understanding in readers and offering powerful science communication tools. Although this goal of translation was realised in our project, we learnt along the way that the project could have benefited from a more explicit focus on interdisciplinarity from the start and by monitoring the interdisciplinary learning opportunities throughout the project. The following issues are important for any art-research collaboration: (1) an interest in and acknowledgement of each other’s (potentially diverging) aims and roles: all parties should—from the start—commit themselves to interdisciplinary collaboration and to exploring the added value of using each other’s methods, thereby finding a common methodological ground and language; (2) a continuous discussion of the sometimes contrasting approaches between artists and researchers: differences in using theory and story may result in different criteria for creating good art. When balancing scientific and aesthetic aims, the trustworthiness of the art work should remain an important criterion; (3) an awareness of the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration to offering new perspectives on one’s scientific data collection and analysis, for example, providing other conceptualisations or indicating blind spots, provided that artists are involved in the early phases of research.
- comics and medicine
- art and medicine
- arts in health/arts and health
- palliative care
Data availability statement
Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.
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Data availability statement
Data sharing not applicable as no datasets generated and/or analysed for this study.
Footnotes
Contributors MH oversaw and managed the writing of this article and was the main researcher in the interdisciplinary collaboration with the comic artists. She also conducted the research on which the graphic novel was based. GO and JvG were project leaders for Naasten and supervised MH’s PhD project. MB became a supervising promotor in the PhD project at a later stage and joined the discussions and reflections during the writing of this article. All authors participated in the preparation of the manuscript, through participating in discussions, providing written comments on drafts and/or writing parts and approving the final version. MH was responsible for the overall content as the guarantor.
Funding Our project was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw, dossier number: 844001310).
Competing interests MH declared that she is coauthor of the graphic novel on which this study was based. The other authors declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the 'Methods' section for further details.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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