Storytelling is a two-way street. Illnesses unfold as stories, and physicians need to learn how to listen to those stories. The same is true of giving advice, for if good advice is given in the wrong way, the patient will not follow it.
Last week, I took my 95-year-old mother to the doctor. The young medical assistant, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, sat with his back to us as he asked his rapid-fire questions and typed the answers into the required electronic medical record. We might as well have been answering a robot, for when he was done, he knew no more about my mother than when we first sat down.
Equally challenging is educating our patients about their illnesses and being certain that they understand our instructions. As we careen into the digital age, the fistful of pamphlets that we stuff into our patients’ hands will be as ineffective in the future as they have been in the past.
The Storytelling Tradition
The use of storytelling goes back to pre-literate societies and ancient cultures, who used it as a means to convey their history and traditions. Many cultures would identify specific individuals to adopt the role of tale-teller. The information was passed along via performance before a live audience, and the performer would adapt, change, and embellish the information to meet the needs of the specific audience.
An article that looks at storytelling in health care gives us examples of why storytelling is an effective tool. It tells us that stories:
Are mentally richer than simple instructions
• Engage and involve the patient
• Trigger empathy
• Are more likely to be remembered and retold
• Promote a two-way conversation
- Transfer knowledge
Healing Stories
In 2011, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine evaluated whether storytelling could improve the blood pressure of people with hypertension. The study divided 299 African-Americans who suffered from high blood pressure into two groups. The first group watched peers who also suffered from hypertension tell stories that described their experiences with hypertension, lessons learned on how to interact with physicians, and strategies to increase medication adherence. The second group watched health-related topics not related to hypertension. The group that watched stories related by peers who shared their problem were more successful in lowering their blood pressure than the other half. A story told by a friend or peer is most effective in creating a lasting memory.
Source:
Senelick, R. C. (2012, June 9). The healing power of storytelling. HuffPost. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patient-care_b_1410115.
Comment:
Storytelling is an art form. Literature works, spoken presentations, and other long standing traditions of language are a more uncommon way to think of art. That is why I chose this article to realize that not only can painting and crafting be a creative outlet but so can writing, reading and telling stories. One of the most impactful classes I’ve taken at OSU was called “The Art of Medicine” which dove into the idea of medical practice as an art form and how to look at it as such, almost in a designerly way. This article really made me think about that, and all the ways society is so quick to design products and services to be more efficient. This is a reminder to look into what people actually want. And maybe that slowing down and becoming more about human connection and less about robotic solutions is something to ask people if they want.
