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The Arts and Health: Connecting The Dots, Evidence-Based

Storytelling is emerging as a powerful tool for health promotion in vulnerable populations. Until now, these interventions were largely untested in rigorous studies. A study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine (Jan 2011) found that a storytelling intervention produced "substantial and significant improvements in blood pressure for patients with baseline uncontrolled hypertension." more

This academic article "Tell Me A Story: A Conceptual Exploration of Storytelling In Health Care Education" from Nursing Education Today explores the principles of storytelling and the role of storytelling in healthcare delivery, This nursing educator identifies some of the skills learned and benefits derived from storytelling, and speculates upon the use of storytelling strategies in nurse education. "Such stories have, until recently been harvested from the experiences of students and of educators," she writes, "however, there is a growing realization that patients and service users are a rich source of healthcare-related stories that can affect, change and benefit clinical practice. more

This article "Effects of a creative expression intervention on emotions, communication, and quality of life in persons with dementia" published in the journal Nursing Research reports the results of research that examined the effects of a storytelling program called TimeSlips on the neuropsychiatric symptoms and emotional well-being of patients with dementia. The study found a sustained and significant increase in positive affect, communication skills and interpersonal interactions through participation in this program.





About CrAzYToWn: How do you know that nice, helpful guy in the next cubicle is a psychopath? You don’t. Some people can lie better than the rest of us can tell the truth. In Crazytown, real-life therapist/performer Jude Treder-Wolff takes you down the rabbit hole of belief that led to her being blind-sided by reality. It’s a comic take on an over-eager therapist getting over herself (when nothing else seemed to be working). And these days, when our phones are smarter than we are, and we can meet, fall in love, shop for a ring and get some counseling with someone and never meet them in person – it’s a cautionary tale about how authentic a completely fake person can be.  More information

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