Stories that Change Behavior, Change Lives
We’re finalizing this note just as we finish another narrative workshop in Seattle. Thank you to those of you who are co-creating this deeper understanding of the role of story to engage and impact. We’re exploring together and demonstrating the power of framing life as a narrative and health as a character to support behavior change and build the critical emotional resonance. We committed to learning, sharing and taking into practice the art and science of story-telling. Here are some resources from Canary Health:
And please join us on September 19, 2017 for our next narrative webinar:
Anatomy of a Great Story: Practical Tips for Effective Story-Telling
Lastly, a story about stories from our Seattle workshop yesterday.
One of our participants – and thank you for sharing – told a story about hypertension and her pregnancy. She is several months pregnant, excited and scared as all first-time parents would be, and visits her doctor. Not yet an expert in hypertension treatment, she sits down, nervous, not having gone to the bathroom, not relaxing her breathing…and to her shock is told by the MA that she has high-blood pressure. Confused and scared not only for herself but primarily for the unborn child, she needlessly worries, believing that her healthcare professional would ensure everything was done correctly. Luckily, the results are a one-time outlier and not indicative of any health problem. And lucky for us the story of this story continues…
Fast forward several years and she now works to promote hypertension screening. She is sitting with a new group of community health promoters and tells her story of a misleading and unnecessarily stressful screening. She sees them lean forward a bit more; they see the human impact which complements the numerical and procedural training they have received. And she knows that her story has helped her new colleagues better understand the importance of their role and the stories of the people they’re there to support.
