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176 | Digital Media and Storytelling in Higher Education
find common patterns, and the researcher may abandon previous views or
stereotypes. The researcher becomes able to understand how the research
subjects interpret and perceive the world, and these experiences are then
conceptualized by the researcher. How the researcher relates to the often
sensitive data from the process is a crucial ethical issue. Since an intimate
relationship of trust is established between the researcher and the participants,
the way in which the data will be used and the conditions of disclosure must
be clarified at the beginning of the process.
In addition to communicating results, action research using DST in
minority research also aims to bring minority and majority populations
closer together. Through dissemination, the majority of the society receives
authentic information about the minority that can be linked to an individual,
allowing the topic to become personal.
CHAPTER 4.
MEDICAL AND HEALTH STUDIES
The focus of DST workshops in healthcare is not on the digital story as an
artifact, but rather on the reflective process. Healthcare professionals often
find it difficult to face tragic life situations in the course of their work. This is
particularly true in the oncology department, where staff regularly alienate
serious cases to avoid major trauma. However, this distancing has a negative
impact on patients’ daily lives. In their continuing education, oncology
assistants in Alaska used DST to frame sensitive topics in a positive way
through confronting difficult issues alongside content such as end-of-life
planning, survivors’ stories, and the importance of follow-up testing. The
personal stories brought their textbook knowledge closer to the participants,
which also changed their attitudes and behaviors towards patients in general
(Cueva et al., 2013). Supporting the well-being of healthcare workers was
also the aim of the Patient Voices program in Cambridge, as the workshop
facilitators wanted to prepare nursing students for the difficult practical
situations that students face in the real world after graduating from university.
The newly graduated nurses (n = 7) created digital stories of workplace
situations that were stressful for them. The emotional charge of the videos
and the personal narrative style validated the narratives, and the practical
examples were analyzed by the students as part of the training curriculum.
The videos about frustrating experiences and reality shock were later included
as illustrative material in nursing education. At the same time, the digital
stories provided feedback to the leaders of the institutions as a vision of the
current state of affairs (Stacey & Hardy, 2011).
In another Patient Voices workshop, five rheumatism patients created
digital stories. Although rheumatism is a problem affecting a fifth of the UK
population and causes persistent complaints, little attention is paid to people