In this manuscript, I utilize an ethnodramatic methodology in reanalyzing two data sets about college friends disclosing and receiving mental health-related information. After describing ethnodrama and how this methodology applies to mental health–related inquiry, I detail my process of creating an ethnodrama from two extant data sets. The result is an ethnodrama called Amicus cum Laude: Becoming a Friend with Honor for Mental Illness, a one-act play about how friends discuss mental health issues with one another. After providing the ethnodrama, I offer recommendations for taking the ethnodrama from page to stage while reflecting on and critiquing the final product.
AhmedS.QuinlanE.McMullenL.ThomasR.FichtnerP.BlockJ. (2015). Ethnodrama: An innovative knowledge translation tool in the management of lymphedema. Journal of Cancer, 6(9), 859–865. https://doi.org/10.7150/jca.12276
2.
ArnettJ. J. (2019). Conceptual foundations of emerging adulthood. In MurrayJ. L.ArnettJ. J. (Eds.), Emerging adulthood in higher education: A new student development paradigm (pp. 11–24). Routledge.
3.
BaillieL.SillsE. (2015). The use of an ethnodrama with healthcare staff to prompt empathy for people with dementia. In WainV.PimomoP. (Eds.), Encountering empathy: Interrogating the past, envisioning the future (pp. 99–110). Inter-Disciplinary Press.
4.
BaroneT. (2002). From genre blurring to audience blending: Reflections on the field emanating from an ethnodrama. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 33(2), 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1525/aeq.2002.33.2.255
5.
BaxterL. A.BraithwaiteD. O.NicholsonJ. H. (1999). Turning points in the development of blended families. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16(3), 291–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407599163002
BoydellK. M.GladstoneB. M.VolpeT.AllemangB.StasiulisE. (2012). The production and dissemination of knowledge: A scoping review of arts-based health research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 13(1). http://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-13.1.1711
8.
BoydellK. M.HodginsM.GladstoneB. M.StasiulisE.BelliveauG.CheuH.KontosP.ParsonsJ. (2016). Arts-based health research and academic legitimacy: Transcending hegemonic conventions. Qualitative Research, 16(6), 681–700. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794116630040
9.
BraithwaiteD. O.AllenJ.MooreJ. (2017). Data conferencing. In MatthesJ. P.DavisC. S.PotterR. F. (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of communication research methods (pp. 425–427). Wiley-Blackwell.
BrinkmannS.KvaleS. (2015). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3rd ed.). Sage.
12.
CannonA.BlairA. (2014). Dramatic data: The possibilities of ethnodramatic writing for understanding the experiences of English learners in community college settings. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 11(4), 307–333. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2014.968068
13.
ChaudoirS. R.QuinnD. M. (2010). Revealing concealable stigmatized identities: The impact of disclosure motivations and positive first-disclosure experiences on fear of disclosure and well-being. Journal of Social Issues, 66(3), 570–584. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2010.01663.x
14.
CoxS. M.Lafrenière Brett-MacLeanP.CollieK.CooleyN.DunbrackJ.FragerG. (2010). Tipping the iceberg? The state of arts and health in Canada. Arts & Health, 2(2), 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2010.481291
15.
CreswellJ. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.
16.
DefenbaughN. L. (2008). “Under erasure”: The absent ill body in doctor-patient dialogue. Qualitative Inquiry, 14(8), 1402–1424. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800408322579
17.
DefenbaughN. L. (2013). Revealing and concealing ill identity: A performance narrative of IBD disclosure. Health Communication, 28(2), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2012.666712
18.
DenzinN. K. (1997). Interpretive ethnography: Ethnographic practices in the 21st century. Sage.
EatonJ. (2015). The feasibility of ethnodrama as an intervention to highlight late-life potential for nursing students and older adults. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 36(2), 204–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701960.2015.1015122
22.
EatonJ. (2017). The process of creating an ethnodrama highlighting late life potential through nursing student and older adult collaboration. Qualitative Research, 17(5), 498–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794116674770
23.
EisenbergD. (2019). Countering the troubling increase in mental health symptoms among U.S. college students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(5), 573–574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.08.003
24.
EnslerE. (2000). The vagina monologues. Dramatists Play Service.
25.
EwersA. E.HallR. D. (November 2018). An exploratory study on the cultural understanding of mental health in Latina/o communities [Paper presentation]. Paper Panel for the International and Intercultural Division at the National Communication Association, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
26.
HallR. D. (in press). Give and take: Exploring the role of confidants when friends disclose chronic and/or mental health-related information. In HouselT. H. (Ed.), Critical perspectives on mental health in higher education: A guide for faculty, administrators, and graduate students. Lexington.
HorwitzE. B.KowalskiJ.AnderbergU. M. (2010). Theater for, by, and with fibromyalgia patients—Evaluation of emotional expression using video interpretation. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 37(1), 13–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2009.11.003
29.
KieransC. M.MaynoothN. U. I. (2001). Sensory and narrative identity: The narration of illness process among chronic renal suffers in Ireland. Anthropology & Medicine, 8(2–3), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470120101381
30.
LamarqueP. (1999). The aesthetic and the universal. The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 33(2), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.2307/3333683
LindlofT. R.TaylorB. C. (2018). Qualitative communication research methods (4th ed.). Sage.
33.
MamanS.MbwamboJ.HoganN. M.KilonzoG. P.SweatM. (2001). Women’s barriers to HIV-1 testing and disclosure: Challenges for HIV-1 voluntary counseling and testing. AIDS Care, 13(5), 595–603. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540120120063223
34.
MarshC. N.WilcoxonS. A. (2015). Underutilization of mental health services among college students: An examination of system-related barriers. Journal of College Student Psychology, 29(3), 227–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2015.1045783
35.
MienczakowskiJ. (1995). The theater of ethnography: The construction of ethnography into theater with emancipatory potential. Qualitative Inquiry, 1(3), 360–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780049500100306
36.
MienczakowskiJ. (2001). Ethnodrama: Performed research—Limitations and potential. In AtkinsonP.CoffeyA.DelamontS.LoflandJ.LoflandL. (Eds.), Handbook of ethnography (pp. 468–471). Sage.
37.
MienczakowskiJ.MorganS. (2001). Ethnodrama: Constructing participatory experiential and compelling action research through performance. In ReasonP.BradburyH. (Eds.), Handbook of action research: Participatory inquiry and practice (pp. 219–227). Sage.
NorvalS.RiforgiateS. E. (2020). “They saved my life!”: Exploring alternative communication frameworks for mental health. In LippertL. R.HallR. D.Miller-OttA. E.DavisD. C. (Eds.), Communicating mental health: History, concepts, and perspectives (pp. 81–100). Lexington.
PaceK.SilkK.NazioneS.FournierL.Collins-EaglinJ. (2018). Promoting mental health help-seeking behavior among first-year college students. Health Communication, 33(2), 102–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1250065
42.
PetragliaJ. (2009). The importance of being authentic: Persuasion, narration, and dialogue in health communication and education. Health Communication, 24(2), 176–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410230802676771
43.
PetronioS. (2002). Boundaries of privacy: Dialectics of disclosure. New York University Press.
44.
RamsayN.HossainR.MooreM.MiloM.BrownA. (2019). Health care while homeless: Barriers, facilitators, and the lived experiences of homeless individuals accessing health care in a Canadian regional municipality. Qualitative Health Research, 29(13), 1839–1849. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732319829434
45.
RiebschlegerJ. (2004). Good days and bad days: The experiences of children of a parent with psychiatric disability. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 28(1), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.2975/28.2004.25.31
46.
RolfeA.MienczakowskiJ.MorganS. (1995). A dramatic experience in mental health nursing education. Nurse Education Today, 15(3), 224–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0260-6917(95)80110-3
47.
RosenbaumM. E.FergusonK. J.HerwaldtL. A. (2005). In their own words: Presenting the patient’s perspective using research-based theatre. Medical Education, 39(6), 622–631. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02181.x
48.
RossiterK.KontosP.ColantonioA.GilbertJ.GrayJ.KeightleyM. (2008). Staging data: Theatre as a tool for analysis and knowledge transfer in health research. Social Science & Medicine, 66(1), 130–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.07.021
SaldañaJ. (2005). Ethnodrama: An anthology of reality theatre. AltaMira Press.
51.
SaldañaJ. (2016). Ethnotheatre: Research from page to stage. Routledge.
52.
SalvatoreJ. (2019). Ethnodrama and ethnotheatre. In LeavyP. (Ed.), Handbook of arts-based research (pp. 267–287). Guilford Press.
53.
SandelowskiM.TrimbleF.WoodardE. K.BarrosoJ. (2006). From synthesis to script: Transforming qualitative research findings for use in practice. Qualitative Health Research, 16(10), 1350–1370. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732306294274
54.
SchipperK.AbmaT. A.van ZadelhoffE.van de GriendtJ.NierseC.WiddershovenG. A. M. (2010). What does it mean to be a patient research partner? An ethnodrama. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(6), 501–510. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410364351
55.
SchneiderB. (2005). Mothers talk about their children with schizophrenia: A performance autoethnography. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 12(3), 333–340. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2005.00844.x
56.
SheehanL.OexleN.ArmasS. A.WanH. T.BushmanM.GloverL.LewyS. A. (2019). Benefits and risks of suicide disclosure. Social Science & Medicine, 223, 16–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.01.023
SonkeJ.PesataB.NakazibweV.SsenyonjoJ.LloydR.EspinoD.KhandakjiS.HahnP.KerriganM. (2018). The arts and health communication in Uganda: A light under the table. Health Communication, 33(4), 401–408. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1266743
59.
SpeechleyM.DeForgeR. T.Ward-GriffinC.MarlattN. M.GutmanisI. (2015). Creating an ethnodrama to catalyze dialogue in home-based dementia care. Qualitative Health Research, 25(11), 1551–1559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315609572
60.
TracyS. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight “big-tent” criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10), 837–851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121
61.
TracyS. J. (2019). Qualitative research methods: Collective evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
62.
ViscardisK.RiceC.PileggiV.UnderhillA.ChandlerE.ChangfootN.MontgomeryP.MykitiukR. (2018). Difference within and without: Health care providers’ engagement with disability arts. Qualitative Health Research, 29(9), 1287–1298. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732318808252
63.
WalkerT.MitchellP.DlouhyS. (2020). Cultivating passion through collaborative art: A dialogic exploration of disability, storytelling, and social change. Health Communication, 35(7), 917–920. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1596868
64.
WallinS. (2013). Next to Normal and the persistence of pathology in performances of psychosocial disability. Disabilities Studies Quarterly, 33(1). https://dsq-sds.org/article/view/3428/3202
65.
YorkeyB.KittT. (2010). Next to normal. Theatre Communications Group.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
