Oldal 177 [177]
OCR
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
