2nd Act Presents:
A Conversation on Storytelling & Health
Tuesday, October 24th at 6:00pm EST on Zoom
Join us on Tuesday, October 24th at 6:00 PM for a discussion about Storytelling and Health with experts! The conversation will be led by 2nd Act Executive Director, Ana Bess Moyer Bell, MA RDT and special guests Dr. Annie Brewster, MD, Founder and Executive Director of Health Story Collaborative and Co-Founder of The Opioid Project, and Nancy Marks, Visual Artist, Art Health Facilitator, Teacher and Co-Founder of The Opioid Project.
Dr. Annie Brewster, MD
Founder and Executive Director of Health Story Collaborative;
Co-Founder of The Opioid Project
Annie is an Assistant Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a practicing physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a writer and storyteller. She is also a patient, diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2001.
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In response to the disconnection she experienced in healthcare, both as a patient and a provider - motivated by her belief in the power of stories - she started recording patient narratives in 2010. Integrating her personal experiences with the research supporting the health benefits of narrative, she founded Health Story Collaborative (HSC) in 2013.
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HSC is dedicated to helping individuals navigating health challenges find meaning and ultimately heal, through storytelling. She is excited by interdisciplinary, cross-institutional collaborations that break through resistance to change.
She is widely published in the press and is author of The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss (2022).
Nancy Marks
Visual Artist, Art Health Facilitator and Teacher, Co-Founder of The Opioid Project
Nancy Marks is a public health activist, art teacher and visual artist and has been making art for over 25 years.
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In 2014, she launched The Intimacy of Memory: The Art of Loss, Love and Remembrance. Through this project Nancy examined why people choose particular objects after someone close to them has died. This exploration has brought together her background in public health and skills and experiences teaching art and as an expressive arts and health facilitator.
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The Opioid Project is her way of weaving the strands of art, healing, love and moral calling. The Opioid Project works to highlight the complex social narrative of addiction, while giving space and ‘voice’ to all those connected to the opioid epidemic. By partnering with local groups, institutions and municipalities, The Opioid Project supports local leadership as it seeks to address opioid prevention, education and treatment.