Healthcare Narratives and Self-Care Stories

The aim of this chapter is to explore how a group of adults with cystic fibrosis (N=40) manage and account for self-care. By focussing on the development of character and plot, narrative analysis will illustrate how distinct patient identities may be constructed and performed as participants defend and justify their preferred self-care practices. These stories do not, however, always fit with the prevailing master narratives on which healthcare is often premised. Drawing on exemplars of 5 distinct types of storytelling an alternative user-driven taxonomy will be suggested which not only recognizes a range of self-care practices but also affirms their legitimacy beyond the horizons of mainstream biomedicine1.