In the article, Anastasia Bezverkha interviews Andrey Rokhanskiy, director of the Institute for Legal Research and Strategy in the Ukraine, about the role of storytelling in his work.
The Institute advocates for palliative care and patients who use drugs in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In the interview, Andrey explains how they use patients stories to raise awareness of the need for better access to opioid pain management and the protection of palliative care patients’ rights.
The Institute collects stories of violations of health rights from patients, reporting them to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health, and using them in local and national press to raise awareness.
Explaining the value of using patient stories, Andrey says: “Strong personal stories unite people of different backgrounds and inspire us to help those in need.”
He adds: “We plan to expand our use of personal stories and produce stories of cancer patients in audio and video formats. These stories will be used in our advocacy work with doctors and health ministry officials to get them to directly listen to the voices of those in need.”
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