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Digital Storytelling

Public Health Storytelling as a Method and Tool For Empathy, Equity, and Social Change

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Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health

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Abstract

Public health storytelling (PHS) refers to community-engaged storytelling methods that critically examine public health issues and seek to identify sustainable and systemic solutions to health inequalities. For participatory and critical researchers, PHS methods offer a powerful array of tools to engage myriad stakeholders in producing and consuming knowledge about the social world. Digital storytelling (DST) is a PHS method used in global public health research and practice to instigate empathy, equity, and collective social change. In this chapter, the authors draw from their collective experience using digital storytelling in the USA, Ghana, and, Nepal to advocate for reproductive rights and justice. This chapter outlines the theoretical foundations of DST and describes the method, including suggested adaptations for online and under-resourced settings. This chapter additionally outlines an ethical framework for DST and concludes by identifying four critical applications of DST for global public health. It is the hope and intent of the authors that this chapter provides inspiration and a roadmap for public scholarship and research activism.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and Health Professions, Health Professions Department, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Alice Fiddian-Green

  2. School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Department of Health Promotion and Policy, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA

    Aline Gubrium

  3. StoryCenter, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Amy Hill

Authors
  1. Alice Fiddian-Green
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  2. Aline Gubrium
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  3. Amy Hill
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alice Fiddian-Green .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Camberwell, VIC, Australia

    Pranee Liamputtong

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© 2023 This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply

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Fiddian-Green, A., Gubrium, A., Hill, A. (2023). Digital Storytelling. In: Liamputtong, P. (eds) Handbook of Social Sciences and Global Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96778-9_61-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96778-9_61-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-96778-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-96778-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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