The existence of scientific evidence of social impact on Dialogic Literary Gatherings (DLG) and their benefits for all participants had previously been addressed. However, a recent scientific article has been published that shows results in improving the health and well-being of participants in a Dialogic Literary Gathering, held for the first time in a primary care health center.
In the heart of a working-class neighborhood in Barcelona, the same one where the first DLG originated, the community health team came into contact with the Community Development Plan (CDP) of the neighborhood, managed by the Association of the Verneda-Sant Martí Adult School, where DLGs were already being held. Educators from this association recommended the DLG to the health center because of the perceived impact these gatherings had on the well-being of their participants. Thus, in 2017, in coordination with these entities, the first DLG in a primary care health center was conducted. Since then, participants, most of them adult women, have met weekly to discuss books from classic world literature that they had chosen. Some of these works include A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, Blindness by José Saramago, and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, among others.
Participants in this DLG reported improvements in their mental health and well-being due to the dialogues and the structure of the DLG, in which they found a space of solidarity, support, and friendship. Some participants diagnosed with mental disorders expressed that the positive social interactions based on egalitarian dialogue in the DLG helped them cope with other situations, gave their lives meaning, and even helped some overcome depression and stop needing medication for their mood. Participants also noted that the DLG made them aware of their capabilities, which led them to become agents of transformation in their families and communities, fostering more egalitarian relationships between healthcare professionals and patients as well.
These findings highlight how the women participating in this gathering have led their own transformation toward better health through their involvement in a DLG, which, for the first time in a primary care setting, emphasizes the potential for health improvement through a Successful Educational Action.
[Image by John Michael Thomson in Unsplash]
Predoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona