Introduction by Croakey: Healthcare facilities should hold “storytelling days” so staff can learn from people with diverse perspectives, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, gender and sexually diverse people, people with disabilities, carers or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
“The storytelling days should empower people from priority populations to share their experiences with the public healthcare system and provide insight into how healthcare staff can provide safe and inclusive care,” writes Brittany Wilson below, in the third of a series of essays from the 2024 National Public Health Student Think Tank Competition.
“Storytelling days can be a powerful way to educate staff members who are not a part of a priority population,” says Wilson.
Students were invited to address the following prompt: Considering the need for an inclusive public health system in Australia, propose an innovative strategy to amplify marginalised voices to address the public health challenges of today.
Brittany Wilson writes:
Behind every statistic is a person, yet in healthcare we often reduce people to numbers and minimise the impact of their struggles. Personal storytelling is a way to humanise experiences that are often reduced to statistics.
Storytelling is identified as beneficial to storytellers and their audience because it can ensure every voice is valued and heard. According to Dr Cory Ingram, Center for Palliative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, storytelling provides insight into the worlds of patients and families to increase understanding and improve the experience of giving (for staff members) and receiving (for patients) patient-centred care.
A meta-ethnographic review by Dr Kirsten Baker at the University of Technology Sydney and colleagues showed there is a general lack of awareness and culturally appropriate care from health service providers, which leads to inequitable health outcomes for some people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from rural or remote areas and people living with a disability.
Given this, I recommend that healthcare facilities organise dedicated “storytelling days” throughout the year to inform staff on how they can minimise systematic barriers and promote equitable health outcomes.
These days should involve storytelling where healthcare staff learn from people with diverse perspectives. For example, from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, gender and sexually diverse people, people with disabilities, carers or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Empowering
The storytelling days should empower people from priority populations to share their experiences with the public healthcare system and provide insight into how healthcare staff can provide safe and inclusive care.
They should also be added to staff members’ mandatory education so that staff are supported to attend at least one or two a year.
This idea is based on research that highlights the power of storytelling in public health. For example, Lara Gurney, at Vancouver Coastal Health, and colleagues showed that storytelling can be a therapeutic way to support patient recovery after serious illness.
Storytelling days can be a powerful way to educate staff members who are not a part of a priority population. This is important because some staff members may not be aware of the experiences that some community members face, especially in the context of public healthcare.
All healthcare staff should be encouraged to attend these days, not just clinical staff.
Community members should be empowered to share their story in an accessible way and in a way that is meaningful for that person.
People could share their stories through digital storytelling, speech, art, dance or activities.
These days will build representation and visibility, allowing people from priority populations to be seen, heard, and appreciated. They can also help foster solidarity among people from priority populations by providing an opportunity for people to connect with others who have faced similar experiences.
Community members who organise and present on these days should be paid for their time.
Education and learning
Throughout my time working in the hospital setting, I have found that hospital staff often find it difficult to leave their departments to attend activities.
Therefore, to ensure engagement in these days, health organisations and their leaders will need to be in full support of this initiative.
Currently, mandatory training often involves completing modules on the computer.
Therefore, these storytelling days will need to be supported and endorsed by healthcare leaders for it to succeed. Due to the fast-paced nature of healthcare systems, there could be an option for staff to attend for half of a day.
These days should also be promoted with ample notice so that managers have enough time to staff their departments accordingly. The idea of acknowledging these storytelling days as a form of mandatory education will allow people to attend these days with the support of their managers and colleagues.
Ultimately, it is hoped that storytelling days will amplify voices whilst also educating public health staff who are not from marginalised backgrounds.
All healthcare staff should be willing to learn from people with lived experience, and healthcare systems should do everything they can to enable this type of education and learning.
About the author
Brittany Wilson has worked in healthcare facilities for over five years, both in regional and metropolitan areas. Brittany currently works at the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network where she completes a series of work-based placements, as well as a Master’s degree in Public Health through the NSW Aboriginal Population Health Training Initiative.
Brittany is passionate about health and wellbeing, and is committed to promoting equitable outcomes for priority populations.
Bookmark this link to follow the 2024 Think Tank series, and see Croakey’s archive of articles on cultural determinants of health.
