The Power of Stories

Since joining the team there have been many aspects of my work that I have found both challenging and thought-provoking, particularly as I’ve begun to take on board Patient Opinion’s values and vision - and one theme that has been at the forefront of my mind surrounds the power of stories.

When I first came into contact with PO, I thought of it principally as being a feedback mechanism - an innovative way for patients and professionals to have an effective conversation aimed at improving healthcare services in the UK. And of course, this is exactly what PO is. But recently I’ve been wondering if this is where things end.

One thing that I have found interesting is that here at PO HQ we like to think of the contribution that patients, carers, and relatives make to our site not simply as “feedback”, “comments”, or even “experiences”, but as “stories”. Whilst some may argue that this is mere semantics, I have come to appreciate that there is an important distinction to be made here.

Part of my day-to-day role involves acting as the first point of contact for members of the public who ring up to tell their stories. Prior to joining PO I spent a number of years as a volunteer with the Samaritans, where I had the privilege of listening to people share their stories at often very vulnerable points in their lives. This experience helped me to realise just how powerful the process of story-telling can be, and has encouraged me to reflect upon how this manifests in what we do here at PO.

We will all have to use healthcare services at some point in our lives, and these times can often be emotionally turbulent for ourselves and those around us. The feelings of vulnerability and uncertainty that many of us experience can heighten our sense of gratitude and elation when all goes well, but can also make things harder to cope with when they don’t go as we’d hope or expect. And it’s here that I think story-telling can really make a difference.

At its best, story-telling is an effective tool for us to make sense of our lives through the process of reflecting upon our experiences, and forming them into a coherent narrative that we can share with others. This can be incredibly cathartic, as it helps us to process and come to terms with what we’ve been through, and to lighten our burden by sharing things with others.

So how does this relate to what we do here at PO? To come back to the semantic distinction made earlier, we are in the business of shared story-telling, which ought to be something quite different from simply gathering feedback, comments, or cold, raw data.

The PO platform is capable of more than just putting patients and professionals in touch with each other – it also provides a means for people to make sense of the experiences that they have been through, with a space to express their joy and gratitude when things go well, and share their frustrations and worries when they don’t.

Indeed, for some people who contact PO, the process of telling their story can be as important as what happens to it once it’s up on our site. I try to bear this in mind when I’m on the phone with somebody who is taking the time to share their story with us – as well as to remind myself of just what a privileged position this puts myself and PO in.