The clinical photographers’ perspective of emotionally challenging situations

Abstract

A clinical photographer’s role can cover a broad range of disciplines within the health care setting and throughout a patient’s care pathway. This in turn can result in the photographer being exposed to scenarios and conditions which can be extremely traumatic. At the time this study took place, formal training for clinical photographers on the management of these situations or the emotional well-being of the photographer did not exist. To explore clinical photographers’ experiences and management of these situations, the author circulated a questionnaire which was completed by 216 participants. The results showed individuals find a range of situations emotionally challenging and this varies from person to person based on factors such as experiences they have had in their personal life and time within the profession.

Keywords:

• Clinical photography
• mental health
• healthcare
• workplace well-being
• emotionally challenging situations

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).