Courtesy of nuttakit
It’s easy to get caught up in the latest innovations in technology and healthcare. (Guilty as charged!) So we really appreciated a recent article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine reminding us not to overlook tried-and-true health education interventions.
One of these interventions is storytelling. Hundreds of studies have been published demonstrating the benefits of storytelling, including a recent, randomized control trial. This study showed the benefit of culturally appropriate storytelling in reducing uncontrolled blood pressure among African-Americans. The intervention included real patients telling stories of their personal struggles.
We have been exploring storytelling at CommunicateHealth—in particular, digital storytelling, which uses computer-based tools to deliver a message. The benefits of using digital storytelling for health are many and include:
- Providing viewers immediate, convenient access to information via the Web or mobile device
- Improving viewers’ self-efficacy to change their behaviors
- Increasing credibility and empowering constituents by enlisting members of the target population as ‘expert’ spokespersons
- The addition of graphics, video, text, and links to related resources
At the moment, we’re working on a series of audio slideshows to convey health promotion and disease prevention messages to consumers with limited literacy skills. As we explore new technologies to improve health, we can – and should – build upon a strong foundation of proven health education methods.
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