Storytelling for impact: the creation of a storytelling program for patient partners in research

Abstract Storytelling is a powerful means to evoke empathy and understanding among people. When patient partners, which include patients, family members, caregivers and organ donors, share their stories with health professionals, this can prompt listeners to reflect on their practice and consider new ways of driving change in the healthcare system. However, a growing number of patient partners are asked to ‘share their story’ within health care and research settings without adequate support to do so. This may ultimately widen, rather than close, the gap between healthcare practitioners and people affected by chronic disease in this new era of patient and public involvement in research. To better support patient partners with storytelling in the context of a patient-oriented research network, Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD) Network adapted an existing in-person storytelling workshop for patient educators within a hospital setting. The result is a 6-week virtual program called Storytelling for Impact, which guides patients, family members, caregivers and organ donors in developing impactful stories and sharing them at health care and research events, e.g., conferences. The online series of synchronous workshops is co-facilitated by story coaches, who are program alumni and Can-SOLVE CKD staff with trained storytelling experience. Each story follows a structure that includes a call to action, which aims to positively impact the priority-setting and delivery of care and research in Canada. The program has been a transformational process for many who have completed it, and numerous other health organizations have expressed interest in sharing this tool with their own patient partners. As result, we have also created an asynchronous online program that can be used by other interested parties outside our network. Patient partners who share their stories can be powerful mediators for inspiring changes in the health care and research landscape, with adequate structured support. We describe two novel programs to support patient partners in impactful storytelling, which are applicable across all health research disciplines. Additional resources are required for sustainability and scale up of training, by having alumni train future storytellers.Plain English summary Storytelling is a powerful means to evoke empathy and understanding among people. When patient partners share their stories with health professionals, this can prompt listeners to reflect on their practice and consider new ways of improving the healthcare system. However, as a growing number of patient partners are asked to ‘share their story’ within health care and research settings, there is often not enough tools and resources to support them in preparing their stories in a way that will be impactful for the audience members. Our kidney research network sought to create a novel in-person storytelling program to address this gap within our health research context. The result is a 6-week program called Storytelling for Impact, which guides patient partners—which includes patients, family members, caregivers and organ donors—in developing impactful stories and sharing them in a formal setting. The program is led by story coaches, who are patient partners and staff with trained storytelling experience. Participants are encouraged to include a call to action in their story, which aims to outline clear ways in which health professionals can facilitate positive change in health research or care. Many participants have described the program as transformational, and numerous other health organizations have expressed interest in sharing this tool with their own patient partners. As a result, we have also created a second online program that can be used by other interested parties outside our network. This paper highlights the adaptation process, content, participant feedback and next steps for the program

Polypeptide Folding-Mediated Tuning of the Optical and Structural Properties of Gold Nanoparticle Assemblies

Responsive hybrid nanomaterials with well-defined properties are of significant interest for the development of biosensors with additional applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery. Here, we present a detailed characterization using UV-vis spectroscopy and small angle X-ray scattering of a hybrid material comprised of polypeptide-decorated gold nanoparticles with highly controllable assembly properties. The assembly is triggered by a folding-dependent bridging of the particles mediated by the heteroassociation of immobilized helix-loop-helix polypeptides and a complementary nonlinear polypeptide present in solution. The polypeptides are de novo designed to associate and fold into a heterotrimeric complex comprised of two disulfide-linked four-helix bundles. The particles form structured assemblies with a highly defined interparticle gap (4.8 ± 0.4 nm) that correlates to the size of the folded polypeptides. Transitions in particle aggregation dynamics, mass-fractal dimensions and ordering, as a function of particle size and the concentration of the bridging polypeptide, are observed; these have significant effects on the optical properties of the assemblies. The assembly and ordering of the particles are highly complex processes that are affected by a large number of variables including the number of polypeptides bridging the particles and the particle mobility within the aggregates. A fundamental understanding of these processes is of paramount interest for the development of novel hybrid nanomaterials with tunable structural and optical properties and for the optimization of nanoparticle-based colorimetric biodetection strategies. © 2011 American Chemical Society.Financial support from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) for D.A., the EPSRC and ERC Grant “Naturale” for M.M.S., the Swedish Research Council (VR), and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) is gratefully acknowledged. B.S. acknowledges the “Ramón y Cajal” program from “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” of Spain for financial support. We thank the Australian synchrotron for synchrotron time on the SAXS beamline (Grant AS093/SAXS1875) and the extensive support of the beamline scientists (Dr. Hawley and Dr. Mudie) without whom this research could not have been performed. We thank Dr. Nicholas Schaeffer and Dr. Aaron Eberle for discussions and input.Peer Reviewe