How storytelling can help public health officials combat distrust, skepticism

Because the COVID-19 pandemic started, public well being specialists and scientists have struggled to get some segments of the general public to heed their warnings in regards to the significance of following public well being measures aimed toward controlling the unfold of the virus.

Lise Saffran, an affiliate instructing professor on the MU Faculty of Well being Professions, research public well being and earned a grasp’s diploma in nice arts and artistic writing from the College of Iowa Author’s Workshop. In a just lately printed commentary titled “Public well being storytelling follow,” she explains how storytelling can assist public well being officers resonate key messages with their supposed audiences. Under are her feedback:

Tales are extra than simply numbers

As scientists and public well being officers, we have to first perceive we’re telling a narrative after we are chatting with the general public, whether or not we notice it or not. We have a tendency to only relay knowledge, however we can not simply assume the info speaks for itself.

One highly effective software is metaphors. Within the context of monitoring the unfold of COVID-19, an instance could possibly be considering of case numbers being monitored in particular areas not as “Huge Brother” watching over us, however quite as a smoke alarm. We could not all the time scent the smoke, however we have to know when there may be smoke circulating close by so we can assist defend ourselves and others.

One other instance could possibly be when public well being officers relay tendencies about COVID-19 case numbers to the general public. As an alternative of merely stating that case numbers remained pretty regular one week and sharply rose the subsequent week, an efficient metaphor could possibly be describing a sink that has water dripping slowly from a faucet one week and shortly overflooding the subsequent week.

Using that empathetic creativity and creativeness helps our tales develop into extra memorable and fewer summary.

‘Flat’ characters versus ‘spherical’ characters

It may be tempting to label those that generally fail to adjust to public well being measures as merely egocentric or evil people who simply do not care, however efficient storytelling requires placing apart assumptions and making an attempt to know why complicated, multi-faceted human beings are ensuring selections in a specific context.

For instance, faculty college students throughout the nation had been naturally excited to socialize with associates after coming again to campus throughout the fall semester of 2020 after their spring semester was halted abruptly by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some selected to socialize outside given the proof that the coronavirus tends to unfold extra simply indoors, however within the chilly wintertime, that out of doors socialization proved to be troublesome. To assist deal with these issues, Northeastern College, for instance, put in dozens of outside firepits and propane heaters.

Slightly than merely labeling faculty college students who select to socialize throughout a pandemic as reckless and unsympathetic, keep in mind that socialization is especially necessary for the psychological well being and growth of younger adults.

Telling a extra full story not solely highlights the complexities of a problem at hand, it can also result in methods to handle the difficulty, as proven by the out of doors firepits at Northeastern College. In a TedTalk titled “The hazard of a single story,” Chimamanda Adichie mentioned, “The only story creates stereotypes, and the issue with stereotypes shouldn’t be that they’re unfaithful, however that they’re incomplete, they make one story develop into the one story.”

Social determinants of well being

Lastly, it’s essential to take a step again and acknowledge that social and structural determinants of well being, similar to schooling ranges and socioeconomic standing, affect conduct way over particular person selections. As People, we have a tendency to consider ourselves as people making particular person selections, however analysis exhibits an individual’s conduct varies extensively relying on the context that individual is in.

This is applicable to all elements of public well being, not simply COVID-19. Earlier than telling somebody to give up smoking cigarettes, it might be clever to think about the stresses that individual is likely to be underneath at work, faculty or dwelling that’s inflicting the urge to smoke within the first place. Slightly than telling somebody to train extra, take into account if the individual lives in a neighborhood with sidewalks out there to train on. Empathy goes a good distance when contemplating the circumstances deprived folks discover themselves in, typically by no fault of their very own.