Assoc Professor Libby Kalucy,
PHC RIS
More than once I have listened with frustration to a supposedly brilliant scholar reading a carefully crafted speech which might have been more understandable as a written document. Moreover, I was probably not alone in being unable to follow the complex sentences at the time, and afterwards I remembered only the story they told in response to a question from the audience. Really good communicators incorporate stories and examples into their workshops and speeches, as well as choosing language appropriate to the occasion.
Stories are a familiar way of bringing order and meaning to a seemingly random jumble of events. We can learn a lot from succinct stories of success, about the way Divisions of General Practice function (see Yvonne Rowling, page 6), or the effect of the National Primary Care Collaboratives' on practice staff (www.npcc.com.au). We can learn even more from stories of what went wrong and how people fixed it, but these stories are usually told in more confidential networks.
Of course stories can also be very misleading. Many dramatic and affecting health stories in the media are not evidence-based. However, researchers can use stories that are appropriate to their context and backed by broader evidence to communicate the achievements of a research program or an organisation1.
We need stories to communicate the value and achievements of the PHCRED Strategy, as well as numbers and documentation from reports. PHC RIS will be working this year with researchers and the Department of Health and Ageing to communicate the achievements of the Strategy. We will be seeking stories about your research, the researchers whose careers have blossomed, the practitioners in research networks, the systematic reviews, and particularly about the ways your research findings are being used in practice and policy. We'll be in touch!
1 Canadian Health Services Research Foundation 2003 Once upon a time… The Use and Abuse of Storytelling and Anecdote in the Health Sector. Report on the 2003 CHSRF Annual Invitational Workshop Montreal Quebec. (www.chsrf.ca/knowledge_transfer/resources_e.php)
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