she tells the story of patients at the end of life

A former caregiver in Deux-Sèvres, Cécile Constantin is a hospital biographer. Its role is to offer people who are seriously ill and at the end of their lives the opportunity to tell their story in order to leave a mark.

Being a hospital biographer means supporting people at the end of their lives by listening to them at their bedside tell a story, the story of their life. Cécile Constantin is one of them.

Writing a biography about a suffering person who knows that his days are numbered is not given to everyone. “The criteria for sending Cécile Constantin to see someone are not very defined. It’s more of a feeling that the patient might benefit from it. We conduct fairly in-depth interviews to know the patient well, to provide comprehensive care. We are going to discover this person“, explains Corinne Bouchaud, palliative care doctor at Niort hospital.

Speaking to tell your life story is an approach that allows patients to forget daily worries. “I always talk about life until the end and how we can live until death: how can we make this phase rich“, adds Corinne Bouchaud. “Often, during interviews, patients talk to us about transmissions, about what traces they will leave, so that they are not forgotten. And it is at this moment that we think of Cécile, who collects her life stories and who transmits them.”

According to her, the work that Cécile Constantin does is an approach that does them good. “This work gives meaning to the time that remains to live. Usually they tell us, ‘I haven’t finished my work.’ This transmission is essential, it leaves a trace.”

Cécile Constantin intervenes once a week. During this day, she will begin to construct a biography, read it and reread it. She will also meet patients to interview them, question them, get them to talk. However, writing a biography cannot be done in a month. “To write a book, I will need several months, because I have several biographies at the same time. As much from the biographies that I am in the process of collecting from people as from the biographies that I am in the process of transcribing and the biographies that I am in the process of structuring them, to unfold the common thread of their story.”

There is no routine: there is only singularity in these stories.

Cécile Constantin

Hospital biographer

For this hospital biographer, the choice of words, expressions and punctuation is essential. “In writing, delicacy is essential. There is a sort of ethics in writing: the idea is not to betray the one who spoke, but to follow in his footsteps and in his voice. I don’t write with a literary style, I don’t write with my voice, the only thing I’m going to do is orchestrate the memories. There are also words and the way people speak. I will translate it in writing so that it is readable to the reader..”

Each patient has their own story. “Not everyone has the same story: I am confronted with a lot of people from rural areas. Many people tell me about cooking with pig, but I have never had one quite like it. Because it has different meanings in families, the same things did not happen and yet they all killed the pig in the same way. There is no routine: there is only singularity in these stories.”

Cécile Constantin believes that her work is complementary to everything that the team does around the person they meet, whether it is the doctor or the caregivers. “We all have our role to play and we support this person as best we can.she believes. I feel useful. I help with transmission to loved ones: since he can no longer write, fatigue and concentration combined, it all becomes too difficult. I’m going to do the part that he can no longer do, but he is the author of this biography.”

Each time a biography is written, it is sent to a recipient. This is the case of KarineCuidet, who received one from his mother a few years ago. “My mother had already started writing at the very beginning of her illness, where she takes up passages from her childhood, with her brothers, her parents, her husband and my brother“, she says.

What’s interesting about his writings, when I reread, I can hear my mother’s voice.

Karine Cuidet

Recipient of his mother’s biography

It was only once she arrived in palliative care that she met the medical team and Cécile Constantin. After several interviews and conversations, Cécile managed to write a biography of her mother with whom Karine was very close. “Cécile had the subtlety of combining different interviews: we retrace her entire life, right up to her last weeks. What’s interesting about his writings, when I reread, I can hear my mother’s voice. Because there really are its words, its expressions, and even in the punctuation.”

“At the very beginning, it was difficult to open it and actually read it,” admits Karine. “I was happy to receive it, but it took me a month to read it. Then, I read it with my brother last year.” This biography, despite the fact that it is laid out and written by someone outside the family, remains very personal. “The weight of words is what remains. There is this closeness that is still present. These are his words, his language, his expressions, we feel joy, regret: this book is a photograph of a life with all its nuances. It is a very beautiful work. My mother was a teacher and the question of culture and transmission is very important. I believe in the power of books and paper.”

Karine Cuidet plans to do the same thing when she is older. “Transmitting, writing for my children, for future generations, yes, I will start writing. And I would do the same thing if I was in palliative care. What was important for my mother is that there are other people who bring life to these interviews and who allow certain memories to be revived. I hope that this type of approach can continue.”