Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Meghann McNiff, MA, MPH(c)¹, Lorenza Holt, MPH¹, Lisa Dush, MFA², and Emily Feinberg, ScD, CPNP³. (1) Maternal and Child Health Department, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T5-W, Boston, MA 02118, 671-852-4058, mcniffm@bu.edu, (2) University of Massachusetts Amherst, English Department, 170 Bartlett Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, (3) Department of Maternal and Child Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T5W, Boston, MA 02118

Cultural barriers limit the ability to the health care system to provide quality care to ethnically and racially diverse populations. Digital storytelling, a dynamic multimedia technique that develops narratives combining voice and imagery into short two-minute videos, is an innovative approach to address disparities in care. This technology gives voice to low literacy populations with strong oral traditions. The session will introduce participants to digital storytelling, the process of working with communities to create stories, and their role as a tool for health system change. We will present an approach for identifying community members to share their stories, developing and editing stories, dealing with sensitive health topics, and using stories in health care and community settings. Technology requirements related to digital story production will also be discussed. We will include a real-time demonstration of stories created as part of a project to address depression and parenting stress among immigrant women. In this project, digital stories are being used to facilitate community discussion of emotional health issues and as a focal point for interventions with health care providers to improve culturally appropriate care. The stories have addressed difficult topics such as the stigma of depression in Latino communities, the relationship between mothers and mothers-in-laws among Vietnamese newcomers, and the intergenerational impact of maternal depression in the Cambodian community. Our experience suggests that digital storytelling is a promising tool for community-based outreach and public health interventions. This session would be best presented in the Film and Technology Theater.

Learning Objectives: