My thoughts...by Caroline Leek

With a background in academia and now a career in public engagement and education surrounding health, I have been to many conferences over the last twenty years. The Storytelling in Health conference in Swansea has been by far my favourite. There are multiple reasons for this:

The diversity within the delegates was wide and made the event. To have discussions with academics, clinicians and artists about providing better opportunities for people’s health was truly inspiring.

The range and format of events being delivered at the conference was excellent and enabled people to access what they wanted in a specific format they most engaged with, whether it was formal presentations or workshops and performances.

The experience of presenting a project to an audience with such wide experiences, beliefs and backgrounds gave a depth to a talk I had never experienced before. It made it so interesting and informative.

The organisation of the conference was outstanding. From the food, the information, the networking spaces and opportunities, every aspect was designed to support your learning and enjoyment.

The opportunity to listen to, and be entertained by, talented storytellers who I would never have engaged with before this event and how the stories they told inspired new projects and ideas within my own work.

The Friday evening preview of ‘Stolen’ was incredible and felt a privileged to be invited to watch. After listening to the storyteller’s own health experience, in his keynote talk, the story epitomised the reasons why this conference was so vital to learning about the impact arts has healthcare.

So thank you for demonstrating that this type of exceptional interdisciplinary event can be done so successfully and giving me the chance to meet such a great number of people, who not only will inform my work but who have taught me new methods of making healthcare engaging and meaningful.