Storytelling Helps Hospital Staff Discover The Person Within The Patient

Bob Hall was recovering from yet another surgery when the volunteer first walked into his hospital room. It was March 2014, and unfortunately Hall had been in and out of the hospital quite a bit. It had been a rocky recovery since his lung transplant, three months earlier, at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wis.
But the volunteer wasn't there to check on his lungs or breathing. Instead she asked Hall if we wanted to tell his life story.
Hall was being treated at the VA because he had served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. After the war, he had a political career as a Massachusetts legislator, and then led professional associations for 30 years.
Hall, who was 67 at the time, welcomed the volunteer and told her he'd be happy to participate.
"I'm anything but a shy guy, and I'm always eager to share details about my life," Hall says, half-jokingly.