Andra Opalinski
Email:aopalinski@health.fau.edu
My clinical work and research have intersected with the concerns related to PJHR by expressing compassion, respect, and building a community of inclusion for individuals who are experiencing homelessness. Providing healthcare for those experiencing homelessness is a beautiful expression of caring that leads to an avenue for honoring the dignity of others. To address the life strain and health burden of experiencing homelessness, we decided on the “field to forum” research approach. “Field to forum” describes a process of translating research findings from the field through creative expression with the intention of fostering an understanding of uniqueness that separates one person from another. This approach was first established by Dr. Patricia Liehr (a PJHR Affiliate Faculty) and colleagues. Photographs as the medium to capture the experiences of caring through healthcare were used as a way to tell a story of about the human condition of a marginalized community by focusing on their health challenges. These images can create an avenue to expose complexities in a way that plants a seed for the development of compassion and respect for people experiencing homelessness. Photo data and results are in press in the following: Dr. Andra Opalinski, Dr. Susan Dyess, and Dr. Nancy Stein, An Evolutionary Process of Capturing Images of People Experiencing Homelessness in Images and Human Rights: Global and Local Perspectives by Alison Dundes Renteln and Nancy Lipkin Stein (2016, in press).