title: The Power of Digital Storytelling as a Culturally Relevant Health Promotion Tool.
abstract: Digital storytelling is an emergent method in health promotion. It addresses health inequities by combining technology with the voices of members of vulnerable, often underrepresented populations. The overall goal of this pilot project was to explore if digital storytelling could be a culturally relevant health promotion tool for Hispanics/Latinos to share their experiences with cancer, or other diseases. Promotores participated in a train-the-trainer workshop. Community members worked with trained promotores to create digital stories through community workshops. We conducted one-on-one interviews with digital story creators to elicit perspectives and assess their experience. One overarching theme among storytellers was the power of storytelling. Supporting subthemes that emerged in the interviews were (1) connection and communication, (2) lack of opportunities and barriers to telling stories, and (3) potential for disease prevention awareness and education. This study found digital storytelling to be culturally relevant for Hispanics/Latinos of Mexican origin. For these storytellers it was a uniquely valuable tool for sharing personal stories of overcoming or managing health issues. Participants found the digital story experience to be positive and beneficial. It provided a healing outlet to reflect on a difficult experience and find support within one's own community.
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA kbriant@fredhutch.org.
authors.forename: Katherine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Briant
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halter
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Sunnyside, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Marchello
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Sunnyside, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Escareño
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Beti
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000458:organization & administration; D054521:Cultural Competency; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects
keywords: Hispanics/Latinos; digital storytelling; health disparities; health promotion tool; promotores; qualitative research