Theater and the Role of the “Good Patient”

Abstract: Inpatient care comes with a set of expectations, implicit rules, medical jargon, and procedural norms that patients are expected to know and follow. Although the medical team is well-versed in these norms and expectations, many patients are not. Nevertheless, patients are often expected to play certain roles and meet tacit expectations for being a “good patient.” If patients do not meet these expectations, they may be dismissed as being unreasonable, non-compliant, difficult, or lacking health literacy. Theater may expose the unfairness or even absurdity of patient role expectations when likened to a play in which all characters have a script, know their lines, and have rehearsed—except for one.

In this performance, faculty from different health humanities departments across the country will perform healthcare-related scenes from famous plays, including Wit and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In these scenes, all performers, except one, will know the context and the lines of each scene. After each scene is performed, elements of Forum Theater will be used to involve the audience. Forum theater allows audience members to interact with actors, edit scenes, and suggest solutions to address the story’s conflict. In this performance, audience members will give the performers feedback to improve each scene, and the actors will perform the scenes again using audience suggestions. The performers and audience will then have a discussion about ways to prevent and address conflict caused by tacit patient expectations in the in-patient setting and how theater can be used in medical education.

Keywords: theater, communication, medical education