Consider the following after viewing the animations:
- In what ways does chronic illness reshape a person’s sense of identity and belonging?
- How does the stigma associated with blood-borne diseases influence the care patients seek out and receive?
- How can creative storytelling impact medical education and patient advocacy? Why should healthcare providers engage with (or even create) content like these animations?
Artist Statement
I have been exploring my lived experience of having had hepatitis C, which has a public health factor due to the risk of transmission. This disease can shape patients’ lives, impacting their help-seeking behaviour and their experience of clinical care. Due to increasingly poor health, I encountered a complexity of impacts that included a loss of health and a sense of stigma. These factors were exacerbated (at that time) by the UK National Health Service restricting access to expensive but highly effective antivirals. Compelled by declining health, I joined a buyers club, set up by Dr James Freeman, which facilitated importing the antivirals from India at a much-reduced cost. Drawing on my insight as a patient and social researcher with an interest in compassionate and equitable care, I have collaborated with animator Jeremy Richard, to produce a suite of short-films and written outputs that depict life with hepatitis C. The project began as an idea that the experience of being ill is often hidden from view, therefore, through animation we portray socially relevant themes in a way that reaches a diverse audience. For The Blood Project, I hope my work highlights the experiences and needs of those with blood-borne diseases and the personal crisis that can occur before and after diagnosis.
About the Artist
Dr. Sarah Skyrme is a sociologist with an interest in marginalised experiences, visual methods, and healthcare provision from the perspective of patients and clinicians. She lives in north-west England and works at Manchester University.
