Use of Writing Letters and Other Literature Forms to Capture Experiences of Research Participants

Within any form of qualitative research, the researcher’s role is to help the participant share their experiences and to translate and convey the messages often as interview themes and findings. However, often these traditional qualitative approaches to research are not appropriate and may cause undue distress and anxiety to the participant and also to the researcher, for example, with any traumatic or life-affecting experience as is often seen within healthcare, such as receiving a terminal diagnosis or survivor stories. Letters and other written forms are a really useful medium to engage with patients who may find this approach less intrusive, less intimidating and more acceptable to participate in. In this chapter the authors will share the experiences of letter writing used when working with survivors of sexual violence, a topic that is not easily spoken about by survivors who are often women and girls.