Challenges and Lessons Learned From Digital Storytelling With Parenting Women in Recovery

Abstract

With the national increase in opioid use disorder among pregnant and parenting women, innovative mechanisms are being utilized to engage with mothers to build social support and promote recovery. This is particularly important in rural settings where other support systems may be limited. Digital storytelling is an interactive tool that often facilitates social connectedness among participants and may foster empowerment and community building among mothers in recovery. We conducted one digital storytelling workshop with rural mothers in recovery in 2018 to examine the feasibility of employing this method to engage with mothers in recovery in a community setting and promote social support among participants. In this article, we describe what we learned from working with the mothers to guide others considering using digital storytelling with women with opioid use disorder in future research or public health intervention projects.