Florence Escriva is a hospital biographer. A profession that is still little known, but which is becoming more and more established and sustainable in hospitals in France. Since 2022, thanks to funding from Pfizer and the Helebor endowment fund, the Tours University Hospital has been offering its patients at the end of their life or who are seriously ill the opportunity to transcribe their journey through a personalized book.
Holder of a university degree in palliative care and certified by the Passeur de mots et d’histoires association (1), Florence puts her pen to the service of sick people. “Illness can be a space of confinement. Looking back at these people’s stories allows them to understand that they are not just sick. They had a life before being affected by the disease”declares the biographer.
The patients’ lives are usually rewritten through a book (2), but the format also depends on the time the person has left to live. Florence mentions in particular the story of a letter: “With one woman, I only had time to write one letter, she left us quickly. These two pages were intended for her child and her husband. »
The writing is entirely done by Florence, but she takes care to respect everyone’s language and expressions: “It is a profession which is based on an ethics of the other and of oneself. I write in the first person singular and I add nothing, it is not a novel. »
This supportive care is not offered to everyone. Catherine Barbe, coordinating physician of the day hospital at the Tours University Hospital, explains: “We tend to offer this service to patients who imply it’s important. The hospital biography is something that really matters to some people. We bring them a part of immortality. »
Drop the emotional burden
Gérard, 74, is one of the ten patients at the Tours University Hospital to have benefited from the hospital biography. His book, hand-delivered on June 17, is the result of thirty-seven listening sessions spread over more than two years with Florence Escriva. Suffering from chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 2008, “This biography project was a dream,” admits Gerard.
This 150-page work looks back at the different periods he experienced. “I particularly mentioned childhood memories where the emotion was strong, but you have to know how to accept it, he delivers. The emotional burden of the illness has been deposited in this book, there is no longer any heaviness. »
For Gérard, looking back on his life brought him moral healing. “The disease invades with appointments, blood tests, medications, he lists. Living with cancer is a difficult thing. We are faced with death and the hospital biography was a service to me. I wrote this story for myself and my family.
An intergenerational project
The CHRU of Tours usually calls on the Tourangelle binding workshop (3) for the design of the books. This time, the cover, graphic design and choice of paper were made by three students from the Albert-Bayet professional high school in Tours.
According to Florent Chardin, teacher at the Albert-Bayet high school, this project allowed Maxence (left) and Maxime (right) “to provide them with insight into social facts”.
© (Photo NR, Charly Blanchot)
Enrolled in the final year of BTS ERPC (4), the three students were touched by Gérard’s story. “It’s a life lesson. We are used to student life and we were able to discover another side of life,” explains Maxime Martin.
Lacking funding, the hospital biography service is launching a call for donations in order to continue within the CHRU of Tours.
(1) Association founded in 2010 by Valéria Milewski, the inventor of the profession of hospital biographer.
(2) Books are personal items, they are not published and are not offered for sale.
(3) Bookbinding association located in Tours.
(4) Studies for the implementation of a communication project.
