Introduction
Oral history points out the present oral condition of the individual, and digital storytelling can help in improving the sense of experiences and thoughts, interactions with each other, and with the environment to know our beliefs, values, and identities. Conveying a situation with the help of digital storytelling in a certain way makes the situation or condition seem real. Communities or the public unaware or ignorant of public health can be included in improving the awareness with the help of methods such as digital storytelling that also helps in research aspects of public health.
What Is Oral History?
Oral history includes the status of oral hygiene, the presence of decay or cavities in the teeth, and records of previous treatments conducted that can help in narrowing the way towards the exact condition.
Oral history can be seen as a limited source for unfolding and meeting public health concerns. It deals with individual biography by taking note of the previous or past events as primary sources of matter. Previous or past sources of matter include past oral health conditions and treatments undertaken.
What Are the Uses of Oral History in Public Health Research?
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It helps indicate individuals about practices that protect health.
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It also helps in advocating the need for better clinical care and reflecting on public health efforts to overcome infectious diseases.
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Personal memories of significance through interviews about health which are recorded (audio or video recorded), also help us to see the link between an individual experience and social impact.
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The exchange of words or discussion between the interview and the interviewee allows us to understand past events and the way it is remembered now.
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Oral history is related to storytelling practices that facilitate concentrating the experience into a shareable and focused story which are used as popular public health tools.
What Is Digital Storytelling?
It is the generation or development of short video narratives in the first person which is paving the way for research in public health as well as in interventions. It is a new innovative method that centers on the use of an individual's voice. It requires a lot of time, training, and resources to implement the method of digital storytelling in public health research, but it has great potential for public health activities supplementation that allows learning from additional lessons through experiences. One of the common methods of format for digital storytelling is short videos. Digital storytelling serves as a means of education, globalization of community, and advocacy.
How Is Digital Storytelling Used as a Part of Public Health Research?
There are multiple aims regarding the research of storytelling.
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It informs the researcher and acts as an intervention that can facilitate knowledge reflections and experience reworking in the individual participating in the research.
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It gains major insight into the knowledge of the public, their attitudes, characteristics, and behavior.
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This can be explained by citing an example of a patient who failed to attend the screening for breast cancer due to fear, pain, and faith in God. This was clarified with the help of storytelling and by validating certain personal experiences that put light on enhancing the importance of screening.
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Unlike other methods of research, digital storytelling is effective, and validation is established.
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As there is no complete validation, it cannot dismiss digital storytelling as a research method.
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Digital storytelling is used as a method of research in many disciplines, including public health.
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Social work, health care delivery systems, understanding communities, and anthropologies are a few examples of various disciplines.
How Can Digital Storytelling Be Set as a Research Tool?
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Science and storytelling are the two research paradigms that should be distinguished.
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Narrative medicine and narrative research should be distinguished from digital storytelling.
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Science and narrative medicine are two forms of knowing. It has been pointed out the very importance of storytelling as compared with other methods as they can lose the emotional impact and explanatory value though they are very well descriptive.
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Storytelling is still an emergent idea that can act as a complementary source of data from conventional research methods.
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As truth is a matter of perspective and a degree, stories do not reveal discoverable truth, and in such situations using digital storytelling can be questionable.
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Using the storytelling method and scientific method together can provide a perfect way of constructing reality with the help of two knowledge systems that enhance and complement each other providing in-depth knowledge and experience using a single method.
What Are the Uses of Oral History and Digital Storytelling in Public Health?
Clinical-related oral histories and dental-related oral histories were studied parallelly, keeping a focus on dental-related oral histories. Digital storytelling has also shown some light on the following:
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Examining the Experiences and Risks - Risks and benefits of health examinations must be noted and examined.
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Educating and Engaging the Population - Every individual in a community must be made known of the policies and methods of research that they are partaking in.
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Educating the Organizations and Clinical Professionals - Organizations and clinical professionals have to be educated and trained enough to follow the research methodologies to obtain better results.
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Informing About the Public Health Practice - A practice of disease prevention and promoting good health within a community or country.
Conclusion:
Oral history and digital storytelling can be useful as a research tool in public health research and practice as they are more creative and easily relate to the population. In this era where people are linked to technology only with the distance of their palm, digital storytelling can be the most effective step in public health research methods. Irrespective of the training resources and time required in implementing oral history and digital storytelling, these methods have the potential to replace public health activities by helping in learning certain lessons from its experience that can educate clinical practices and also enhance better learning from the experience of communities which are affected largely by public health issues.
