Heleen Eising

Speaker June 5, 2026: dr. H. (Heleen) Eising,obstetrician andgynecologist Gelre Hospitals in Apeldoorn and Zutphen, founder and chairwomen of the non-profit organization Junction Care
Title workshop: Thinking about stories, thinking with stories

Abstract

In the book ‘Linea Nigra’, Jazmina Barrera1,2 describes the phases of disappearing, transforming what women experience during their lives. These phases are often very recognizable to caregivers in women health care and catch on in their daily work. The stories that women tell are often layered and caregivers must be very careful to see and understand all these layers.

In our non-profit organization ‘Junction Care’ (https://junction.care) our goal is to increase awareness that a humanistic perspective is important in healthcare. This is especially important in the care of women because of the vulnerability during the various changes they go through in their lives. To achieve this goal, we connect care with art, science and education. In training we use the narrative medicine approach. We recently published an article describing the collaboration with writer Ramsey Nasr3.

An ongoing research project with designers a website was created features stories from women with bleeding disorders. These narratives give patients a voice, aim to inspire healthcare professionals to rethink how they engage with patients and serve as a source of knowledge for care, education and research. This project reflects how art and science together can bring a fresh perspective to women’s healthcare. (https://bleedingdisorders.junction.care)