HEALING WORDS:
POETRY & MEDICINE DVD

Filmed at a large teaching hospital in Florida, HEALING WORDS: POETRY & MEDICINE tells the stories of patients whose lives have been dramatically changed by the incorporation of poetry into their recovery process. Dr. John Graham-Pole and poetry therapist John Fox enter hospital rooms and help patients write poems as part of their healing process. This film shows viewers that compassion can flourish in the unlikeliest of places — a sterile hospital room. John Fox gently coaxes words from patients — many of whom have never written poetry before. The result is touching, poignant and always surprising. Poetry deepens their understanding of themselves and their illnesses, and, as the film shows, understanding is the key to healing.

At a time when Americans have grown cynical about health-care costs, impersonal treatment and the intrusion of corporate self-interest in the doctor-patient relationship, this film affirms that poetry and art can build understanding and compassion between doctor and patient and help facilitate healing among the most critically ill.