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Resources for Living: visualising experiences of food and eating for survivors of head and neck cancer (Talk by Dr Duika Burges Watson and Dr Susan Lewis, 12 March 2015)

posted on March 16, 2025

Research Summary: Resources for Living

Topic: Qualitative research project on food and eating experiences in head and neck cancer survivors
Research Team: Dr Duika Burges Watson, Dr Susan Lewis, John Faulkner (photographer/video-maker), with survivor co-researchers
Methodology: Participatory visual research combining audio-visual analysis, participant-generated imagery, and thematic exploration of survivorship experiences
Primary Outputs: Professional video for clinical practitioners, recipe book featuring participant stories, and interactive online resource for survivor use
Key Innovation: Survivor-driven from inception, centering participant narratives and creative contributions to shape research design and dissemination
Clinical Application: Supports practitioners and survivors navigating functional and psychosocial impacts of head and neck cancer treatment on nutrition and daily living
Presentation Date: Thursday, 12 March 2015, 12-2pm at St Chad's College; open to university researchers and postgraduates

The forthcoming talk will be by Dr Duika Burges Watson and Dr Susan Lewis, whose presentation is entitled ‘Resources for Living: visualising experiences of food and eating for survivors of head and neck cancer’. From its inception, this has been a project driven by survivor involvement. It fully reflects participants’ insistence at being seen and heard telling their own stories about food, eating and their daily lives, and includes audio-visual work for analytical purposes, along with outputs such as a professionally-produced video to be used by practitioners and a ‘recipe book’ featuring study participants.

The project team includes John Faulkner, a photographer and video-maker who also has a critical social science background. What is emerging from this collaboration is exceeding expectations. In addition to rich footage, with John’s support survivors are contributing film and images from their daily lives. This presentation will explore how the huge potential of the visual material might be fulfilled, starting with some background to head and neck cancer’s impact, and survivorship. Then, to whet appetites, the team will introduce examples of the photographic and video material – including survivors’ own – and the developing interactive online resource for survivor use. Finally, the team will ask for ideas on how the images, and the stories they convey, might best be shared with a wider public.

This next in our series of Affiliates’ Lunches is on Thursday, 12th March from 12-2pm at St Chad’s College. The meetings this year are each focused on an interdisciplinary theme which we hope will be of interest to affiliates and researchers across the university. All talks are followed by discussion and a buffet lunch.

All researchers in the university, including early career researchers and postgraduates, are most welcome at all these events. If you know of members of staff or postgraduates who might be interested, please do forward this invitation. We are always delighted to welcome new affiliates and to add new names to our mailing list: please let us know if you are aware of researchers who might be interested in the work of the Centre. We are also very happy to hear suggestions for themes for next year.

For catering purposes, it would be very helpful if you were able to confirm your place at the lunch. To do so, please contact our Administrator, Jane Abel.

We look forward very much to welcoming you to this event.
Jane Macnaughton Corinne Saunders Co-Directors, Centre for Medical Humanities

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Filed Under: Seminar

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