Using Digital Storytelling to Reduce Unplanned Health Care Encounters

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature establishing digital storytelling as an efficacious strategy to improve hypertension outcomes. The purpose of this nurse-led project was to explore the use of digital storytelling to reduce unplanned health care encounters and to determine whether the approach was feasible. Half of adults in the United States have hypertension. However, only 1 in 4 has his or her condition under control. In addition, the annual economic burden is more than $51 billion. Digital storytelling was employed with residents in northeast Louisiana. Videos of individuals with well-managed hypertension shared success stories with less well-managed individuals over a 16-month long program. The study found that 55 (93%) of listeners had no unplanned provider visits, 57 (94.9%) had no emergency department room visits, and 57 (94.9%) were not hospitalized over the study period. Digital storytelling reduced unplanned encounters, and the program was deemed feasible.