112 Chapter 7 For these reasons, we designed a NM workshop specifically for the obstetrical-gynecological (OB-GYN) department at Gelre Hospitals, The Netherlands (39). Gelre Hospitals is a teaching hospital with 846 beds located in the center of the Netherlands. As an additional innovation, we first co-created a site-specific artwork to use in the workshop; this artwork was inspired by narratives of both professionals and patients from the Gelre Hospitals about socially sensitive OB-GYN themes like heavy menstrual bleeding and stigmatization. The goal of this study is therefore: 1. to determine if the site-specific artwork and NM workshop format challenged participants to reflect upon their own emotions and experiences; 2. to ascertain if participants felt comfortable enough in the multidisciplinary setting to articulate these thoughts and experiences; 3. to assess if the timing and duration of the sessions was suitable for this population (16-18, 21). Methodology Our conceptual framework in this study is phenomenological (40) as our goal was to explore the lived experiences of the participants in the artistic co-creation process and workshop sessions. Our approach to the data collection and analysis as outlined in the following sections was interpretivist and iterative (41). The diversity of backgrounds, expertise, and experience in our research team furthermore helped us design and analyze the impact of the NM workshop from multiple angles and vantage points. The team consists of two obstetricians-gynecologists (HE, MB); a midwife (RL); a medical doctor/humanities scholar (EL); humanities associate professor with extensive experience in qualitative research (MM), a gynecology professor with expertise in benign gynecology (focus heavy menstrual bleeding) (MB) and a professional poet/author (RN) of numerous award-winning books and former Poet Laureate of the Netherlands. Co-creating a site-specific poem To engage OB-GYN professionals and patients and stimulate meaningful discussion about gynecological health topics an arts-based approach using a co-created site-specific poem was selected (19, 26). This decision to use poetry was influenced by the discussions gynecologist HE had with OB-GYN patients in the context of gender inequity in the health care system, and a literature review of the role language plays in meaning-making (27, 42). Poetry can unsettle and disrupt familiar ways of doing, being and seeing the world, allowing unexpected interpretations and emotions to emerge and bringing forth new potential insights (43). For these reasons, poetry was deemed the most suitable artform for the target population and context (44). Writer and poet Ramsey Nasr (RN) was invited by HE to co-create a site-specific poem about gynecological topics and gender inequality issues (32). RN is an award-winning poet, and he has a rich body of socially engaged work and his prior thematization of these topics. During multiple conversations with HE they talked about sexism, shame and stigmatization related to OB-GYN issues and health care, and how patients reported their experiences with the health care system (such as ‘feeling overwhelmed’). RN made handwritten notes, which he used to steer a period of research and reflection. After this period, RN shared a preliminary version of his narrative poem with HPE. She then workshopped the poem with 3 OB-GYN patients
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