Narrative Medicine Competencies in Intellectual Disability Rehabilitation—A Narrative Review

Abstract

Narrative medicine originated more than 20 years ago and focuses on integrating clinical expertise with patients’ personal experiences of suffering through narrative techniques, thus complementing evidence-based medicine. Personal storytelling is essential for children's social and academic growth. Intellectual disabilities, one of the primary causes of childhood disability globally, result from a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Rehabilitation encompasses multiple domains of function, including physical, psychological, and social adaptation. Conventional models typically prioritize physical gains while overlooking families’ emotional needs and the personal significance of functional improvement, limiting meaningful engagement. Consequently, this review explores educational strategies to enhance rehabilitation professionals’ narrative competence in caring for children with intellectual disabilities. It offers practical recommendations for cultivating narrative skills, proposes an emotional support framework to improve rehabilitation adherence, and serves as a reference for establishing a robust narrative competence curriculum within medical education.