Leading Through Stories: LIVE from Kids Brain Health Network

In a world where healthcare is a complex maze to navigate, particularly for parents of children with unique health conditions like Rett Syndrome, the power of digital storytelling comes into sharp focus. This form of communication has emerged as an incredibly powerful tool, enabling empathy, understanding, and shared experiences within the healthcare community.

Melanie Birch, a mother to a child with Rett Syndrome, offers an insightful narrative of her journey and how digital storytelling has played a pivotal role in her experiences. She uses this medium as a tool to communicate with her daughter’s therapists, classmates, and school, showcasing her daughter’s progress and experiences in a relatable and compelling way. This unique form of storytelling has even reached and impacted medical students and her child’s developmental pediatrician, promoting empathy and a deeper understanding of her daughter’s condition.

The profound impact of Melanie’s digital story didn’t stop there, demonstrating the far-reaching effects of gratitude-focused narratives in healthcare. This emphasizes the power of digital storytelling in not just capturing individual experiences but influencing larger entities within the healthcare industry.

Our other guest, Kristina is a Common Language Digital Storytelling facilitator and was in Ottawa presenting at the Kids Brain Health Network Conference. She enlightens us about her work with the Family Engagement in Research training program, showcasing how shared experiences, can offer solace and a sense of community. As we learn about Kristina’s various roles as a nurse, a mother, and a peer advisor, the extraordinary power of digital stories becomes clear. These narratives, far from being mere recounts of personal experiences, serve to invoke emotions, foster understanding, and share experiences on a broader platform.

Digital stories can be a transformative tool in healthcare advocacy, impacting not just the patient’s journey but also the healthcare community at large. This medium holds the potential to bring about a shift in how we understand and approach healthcare, especially for unique conditions like Rett Syndrome. The use of digital storytelling in research can help translate complex studies into relatable narratives, making them more accessible and impactful.

The experience of Melanie Birch as a mother and a board member of the Ontario Rett Syndrome Association offers a valuable insight into how digital storytelling can help document a family’s experiences, invoke empathy, and even impact policy changes. As we delve into her journey, we see how this medium has been a powerful tool in her advocacy work, helping to bring about change in how we perceive and handle healthcare for unique conditions like Rett Syndrome.

In conclusion, digital storytelling holds the potential to transform the healthcare landscape. It serves as a bridge, connecting personal experiences to broader audiences, invoking empathy, fostering understanding, and advocating for change. This episode underscores the importance of embracing this powerful medium in our healthcare journey, be it as caregivers, healthcare professionals, or advocates.

Melanie’s Guest Blog: Retty Syndrome Awareness

Read Melanie’s guest blog post about Rett Syndrome here or have a look at the 21 weeks photo project that led Melanie to co-create her digital story with Kristy and get involved with Common Language.

About Kids Brain Health Network

Kids Brain Health Network is a national network of researchers and health professionals dedicated to helping children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families. They fund collaborative research, train the next generation of developmental neuroscientists, and mobilize our findings for impact.

Learn more about KBHN here.

About Common Language DST

“Common Language was an idea that came out of a very practical need that I had for co-facilitators for projects that I was working on, but it’s quickly grown into this incredible community, and being part of a community like this was really what I’d always been looking for when I started out as a digital storytelling facilitator.”
~ Mike Lang

About Leading Through Stories

Everyone has a story to tell—and what we do with that story can create lasting impact. Every episode, Leading Through Stories, helps unravel the how and why of digital storytelling with host Kristy Wolfe.

Life is made up of meaningful moments—which ones do you want to share?

Don’t miss an episode from Leading Through Stories!

Sign up for the Leading Through Stories newsletter, follow us on Instagram @LeadingThroughStories and subscribe on your favourite podcast platform.

Unveiling the Impact of a Story Screening: A Deep Dive into Digital Storytelling – Leading Through Stories

Get ready to be taken on a journey through the fascinating world of digital storytelling. Promising to be a deep-dive into the realm of personal narratives and their potency, we welcome three guests, Cindy McDonald, Christie Oswald, and Kathleen Shearer. Each of them brings to the table their unique experiences, highlighting the meaningful moments that sparked their digital stories which were recently shared a screening event in Edmonton.As we progress, we step into the excitement of sharing personal stories. Our guests share their roller coaster of emotions, from the exhilaration to the nervous anticipation, and the deep sense of fulfillment that engulfs a storyteller when their digital story resonates with the audience. You'll hear about the integral role of family and friends in bolstering the narrator's confidence, the bond of trust with the host, and the heartwarming effects of sharing stories with a larger audience. Diving into the profound impact of digital storytelling, we dissect our own experiences and the conversations that ensue from these digital narratives. Unveiling the potential of digital storytelling as a powerful tool for advocacy and initiating dialogue, we underscore its effectiveness in bridging gaps and sharing meaningful experiences. Together, we unravel the immense power vested in digital storytelling and the deep connections it can forge. This episode serves as a testament to the transformative potential of sharing unique stories, encouraging everyone to embrace their experiences and paint them onto a digital canvas.Digital Story LinksThink Like a Parent Christie Oswald created her digital story as part of her Masters of Social Work capstone project at the University of Alberta in the spring of 2023. A New Path Forward Kathleen Shearer created her story, A New Path Forward, during a workshop for medical parents. The Soul System Cindy McDonald shares her story of healing after being diagnosed with postpartum depression and surviving a suicide attempt. About Leading Through StoriesEveryone has a story to tell—and what we do with that story can create lasting impact. Every episode, Leading Through Stories, helps unravel the how and why of digital storytelling with host Kristy Wolfe. Life is made up of meaningful moments—which ones do you want to share? This podcast is sponsored by Common Language DST, digital storytelling facilitation training for health and wellness changemakers. Don't miss an episode from Leading Through Stories! Sign up for the Leading Through Stories newsletter, follow us on Instagram @LeadingThroughStories and subscribe on your favourite podcast platform.

1. Unveiling the Impact of a Story Screening: A Deep Dive into Digital Storytelling 28:32
2. LIVE Kids Brain Health Network Conference with Kristina McGuire & Melanie Birch 33:28
3. Empowering Rare Disease Families: A Conversation with Krystle Schofield 21:52
4. When Your World Stops: Insights from a Congenital Heart Parent and Advocate 24:10
5. Enhancing Storyteller Wellbeing: Digital Storytelling with Mike Lang 24:26