10/08/2026
New for 2026, New York Festivals Health introduced Human Lens: The Lived Experience, a category and Specialty Jury recognizing healthcare storytelling shaped by the people whose experiences are at its heart.
This Specialty Jury will be led by Co-Chairs Jordan Rathkopf and Anna Rathkopf, Co-Founders of RATHKOPF, a patient and caregiver-led strategy and storytelling studio and will be supported by eight more dedicated Jury Members passionate about real patient stories.
We have been featuring these Jury Members through our Health Pulse Interview Series, and today we spotlight Elyse Spatz Caplan, a strategic advisor in patient advocacy and empowerment. Check out her full interview: https://www.nyfhealth.com/media/Interior/d20fe048-6362-4679-94bb-98ece95c393d
Why is the Human Lens category important right now?
Elyse Spatz Caplan, MA: Storytelling is everywhere in healthcare, but it only works if it's authentic—and a lot of organizations think they're already doing that without realizing they're not doing it the way patients actually experience it. Too often, a team signs off on a concept, an agency starts drafting, they hit a snag, and then someone says, let's consult a patient/advocate. Patients and caregivers are the subject-matter experts—they belong in the project while the idea is being shaped, not called in midstream to fix something. If you speak with patients they will tell you first-hand, "nothing about us; without us."
Midstream can still work if the team is open to feedback and has built in time to act on it—otherwise, it's inefficient and disrespects the people who gave their time and input. The Human Lens shows what happens when lived experience is embedded from the start, not added at the end to validate a decision already made.
