Foundation Junction is a non-profit organization and researches the role of the arts in science, education and healthcare. Can poetry teach you to listen differently? Can a painting help to teach the other person to see? Can music increase your empathic abilities? We present our knowledge and insights during lectures, workshops/training courses in healthcare and education.
We are healthcare or education professionals and are constantly looking for attention to humanity and recognition of the other within the current healthcare system. We connect narrative medicine with complex themes such as gender-specific care and stigmatization.
Art invites everyone to reflect. An artistic approach in healthcare can complement science and make fixed patterns negotiable. This creates new perspectives.
We share and deepen knowledge by conducting studies, giving lectures and training courses at various locations.
Scientific expertise is the gold standard in the healthcare system. We conduct studies and publish articles in scientific journals that are publicly accessible.
The foundation uses a broad perspective in its studies. She aims to provide insight into the various factors that contribute to under- or misdiagnosis of female-specific conditions, such as coagulation problems with heavy periods.
Reducing knowledge gaps on gender-specific care pathways, the lack of prevention and better representation of, for example, women in clinical trials are essential factors to improve the quality of care.
To bridge this gap, we encourage a narrative approach using specific artworks to increase the imagination of healthcare professionals. This can help their judgment.
The foundation uses a broad perspective in its studies. She aims to provide insight into the various factors that contribute to under- or misdiagnosis of female-specific conditions, such as coagulation problems with heavy periods. Reducing knowledge gaps on gender-specific care pathways, the lack of prevention and better representation of, for example, women in clinical trials are essential factors to improve the quality of care [1]. To bridge this gap, we encourage a narrative approach using specific artworks to increase the imagination of healthcare professionals. This can help their judgment.
With our project Bleeding Disorders, we bring together all elements of Junction: healthcare, art, education, and science. Through personal stories of European women with inherited bleeding disorders, we give patients a voice and invite professionals to look at healthcare from a different perspective.
Narrative interventions with the use of art are gaining more and more visibility in medical education and research. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized this intervention as a valuable tool to improve care.
Narrative interventions typically involve three steps: First, participants meet and analyze a story or artwork; Secondly, they write a creative and self-reflective piece as a result of this encounter; Third, they share their writings and observations with each other. We also used this method in our training.
Art-based interventions in healthcare have proven to be a powerful strategy to discuss taboo topics.
A work of art can serve as a lens through which confrontational subjects can be explored and shared in a safe environment. In addition, trans- or interdisciplinary collaborations improve the quality of care.
Within Junction, we work together with various disciplines: healthcare, education, science and art.
In 2022, writer and poet Ramsey Nasr wrote the cycle of poems ‘Man- unless otherwise indicated’. This collection contains five verses with the following themes: 1. gender, 2. language, 3. urination, 4. shame and 5. creation.
David Colmer translated these verses into English in ‘Male-unless otherwise indicated’ (2023).
The Dutch String Collective (artistic director Marieke de Bruijn) create music for verse 2, ‘Language’ of the poetry cycle (Ramsey Nasr) in 2024. Megan spoke the lyrics. For this occasion, songwriter tutor Jaco Benckhuijsen was asked to compose the music.
Carla de Jong (Meridiaan Publishers) and The Green Tale/webdesigners were asked in 2025 to work together with researchers (hematology, gynaecology, patient associations) to create online content and storycards of patient experiences, literature and music together. Resulting in project ‘Bleeding Disordes’. In 2026 visual artist Esther Bruggink will make a work of art based on these stories.
We are a group with diverse expertise that stimulates imagination and dialogue in healthcare, in which the use of narrative medicine plays an important role.
5 maart 2026 | In deze e-learning staat de zorg voor patiënten met hemofilie centraal, met ditmaal specifiek aandacht voor hevig menstrueel bloedverlies (HMB). Meer info
4-6 juni 2026 | Vereniging van Nederlandse Vrouwelijke artsen
