Storytelling for Health Promotion: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Objective

To examine storytelling interventions as health promotion tools in underserved populations across disease states, including hypertension, diabetes, overall chronic disease, obstetric care, and preventative health to assess intervention design and cultural tailoring and analyze reported quantitative and qualitative health outcomes.

Data Source

A comprehensive literature search was performed in PUBMED.

Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Studies were included if they implemented a storytelling intervention to promote health knowledge, behavior change, or health-related outcomes. Excluded studies lacked an evaluated intervention or reported outcomes. Reviews, commentaries, editorials, protocols without outcome data, and duplicate publications without novel findings were excluded. Only English-language studies were included due to reviewer fluency.

Data Extraction

Twenty-five studies were included and categorized based on disease focus.

Data Synthesis

A narrative synthesis and inductive content analysis was performed. Studies were grouped by disease state and analyzed for population demographics, intervention development and delivery, cultural tailoring, storytelling theory, and measured outcomes.

Results

Storytelling, in digital and oral formats, improved health knowledge, self-efficacy, and preventive behaviors. Several methods were employed to culturally tailor interventions. Interventions were based on multiple behavioral theories.

Conclusions

When culturally tailored and rooted in theory, regardless of delivery format, storytelling can foster behavior change across diverse health conditions.