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| U.Va nursing professor Emily Haustein |
I came across an online news article that reported that the University of Virginia Nursing School has received a $693,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study digital storytelling. Specifically, Professor Emily Haustein and other grant investigators hope to determine if digital storytelling can ease and explain the the symptoms of 25 rural Virginian women who suffer from depression.
When I read this article, I was amazed at the versatility found in digital storytelling. If this study proves successful, the mental health field will have a new weapon in its arsenal for battling depression.
Please see original article at the Web address below:
http://www.virginia.edu/uvatoday/newsRelease.php?id=13045#
News Source#2
http://www.newsleader.com/article/20101004/NEWS01/101004005/1002/news01/U.Va.+nursing+school+receives+a++693+000+grant+to+study+digital+storytelling+
Aja,
ReplyDeleteI am amazed by this application of digital storytelling. The article points out that this may be the first study "to involve digital storytelling working with a clinical population to establish it as a therapeutic intervention". Very interesting. The study is "psychotherapy process research", which means they are focused on the process - why it works - rather than the outcome (ie, if it works). I hope they do figure out how the digial storytelling process helps these women who suffer from depression as it seems like a fairly simple way to make some positive changes.
I have witnessed digital storytelling used with people with Autism for social stories but they were passive participants by just watching the story. The active participation that these women are having in the the creating of their digital stories is outstanding. I am very curious to see what the researchers discover about this method of therapy. I would suspect that participating in this type of project might be something the women may feel good about. I likes how the therapy sessions each took a different form and provided opportunities to work with difference technicians. Thanks for presenting such an interesting article.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue:
ReplyDeleteYes, this 3 years study is very process oriented. In fact, the research team will be meeting with the 25 women and digitally recording their stories over the course of 6 weeks and then the team will do follow-up evaluations 6 months later. The remaining 2 and 1/2 years of study will be devoted to transcribing and analyzing the various digital stories. Looking at the research team, I think they are very well qualified to maybe discover some interesting outcomes.
The research team includes a nurse practitioner that will conduct the assessments; an assistant nursing professor who is also a nurse therapist trained in digital storytelling; a psychiatrist who is also an anthropologist trained in narrative method; the director of research for the College of Arts & Sciences' Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture who will assist in the qualitative data analysis; and finally a coordinator of data analysis and interpretation in the Nursing School's Rural Health Care Research Center.
Hi Greg:
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is a very interesting article. When i came across it I was abosultely blown away because it was the 1st time that my reserch of this topic yielded a mental health avenue in which digitial storytelling could be utilized. Again the sheer diversity of this medium is astounding and it seems only limited by one's imagination.
~Aja