New Haven: Medical histories and life

From the Yale Herald, an article about an interesting volunteer program, Living History, at the Yale-New Haven Hospital:

Kupiec, who wears a hot pink hospital coat, is a Living History volunteer: Every Thursday, she visits willing patients here to record their life histories. The Living History program, established at YNHH last year, allows patients to share their lives.

"It is a living, breathing chronicle of a patient’s non-medical history," reads the program brochure. Volunteers are trained in listening and writing skills, and spend up to an hour with each patient asking questions that range from the basics (nicknames, education history, hobbies) to such specifics as "How did you meet your spouse?” and “Is there anything you have always wanted to do but haven’t?"

One copy is laminated and given to the patient, while a confidential copy is provided to caregivers; it help physicians and other staffers make connections to their patients.

The patients sometimes share these histories with their families, or use them to reorient themselves after surgery or illness.