Found poetry: a creative approach to illuminate the findings of qualitative research

Found poetry is created by taking words and phrases from other sources and reframing them - the literary equivalent of a collage. The form emerged in the 20th century, influenced by Pop Art and Dadaism, whose artists sometimes placed everyday objects into different contexts to provoke fresh responses and questions. In a found poem, Fiona Hamilton used verbatim quotes from qualitative interviews with patients about recent experiences of test communication in a recent BJGP article. Different patient voices were interwoven to capture the patient experience in a creative way. Lines from the transcripts were selected for their resonance or linguistic impact and arranged with line breaks so that qualities of voice, tone, and underlying meaning could emerge. Meanwhile, Watson and Hamilton hope that the poem can help their readers engage in a more reflective way with patients' lived experiences of blood testing.