THEATRE OF HEALTH: An Ethnographic Exploration of Female Physician Well-being and Applied Theatre in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

This thesis brings together ethnographic research and theatre techniques to understand and confront the challenges - from gender barriers to professional burnout – faced by female physicians in Accra, Ghana. For three months, I shadowed three female doctors, conducted participant observation, interviews and focus groups and administered surveys in order to investigate local understands of well-being and its threats. I also worked with a local theatre group to design and implement workshops that allowed participants from the medical field to experiment with social theatre and embodied practices geared towards exposing and alleviating stress factors. Along with offering critical insights about gender politics and labor within the Ghanaian health workforce, my thesis offers a new global health theatre model , which is collaborative and interventional. Situated within the burgeoning health humanities field, this model as elaborated during my thesis project could serve as a well-being toolkit – not just for female physicians, but for members of different professional groups and social classes throughout Ghana and beyond.