Storytelling and Narrative Techniques: Research Findings Support their Implication in any Healthcare Setting.

Introduction: Narrative therapy is a technique that was first introduced in the 1970s by an Australian social worker. Yet, its impact has been a major influence in various scientific domains, including: preventive medicine, health psychology and sociology amongst others. Alongside storytelling, the narrative therapist or a trained health professional aids people to create stories about themselves, their identities and their overall situation they face in a way that may be self-healing for them. By 'co-authoring' a new story about one's self, the health professional and the patient are creating therapeutic environment. Aim: The aim of this special article is to elaborate on the context, within which a therapist or a trained health care professional uses narrative techniques or storytelling to assist patients co-author a new narrative about themselves by investigating the background core of their values, independently of their age, health status or healthcare setting. Discussion: Storytelling and narrative therapy techniques can form the basis for therapeutic conversations, which seek to challenge dominant discourses in viewing disease and hardship in destructive ways. The biomedical model sets the framework for a holistic approach and narrative therapy adds an appropriate patient and family centered addition to it. Although narrative work is considered to be part of family therapy, many authors claim that by employing these techniques in any healthcare setting by nurses, can be beneficial for the patients since engage them to cope with their illness-related challenges and assist healthcare professionals to better meet the needs of patients and families. Their implementation in a paediatric setting seems to be beneficial and feasible because not only sets family in the center of the care but also assist children explore support systems, mechanisms and coping strategies helping them build resilience. Conclusions: Storytelling within the context of Narrative Practice is a mode of therapy that seeks to help patients identify their values and skills associated with them. Under this light, nurses need to provide their patients with the knowledge of their ability to live these values so they can effectively deal with the complexities of current or future disease. Narrative techniques and storytelling seem to be useful in all ages, but there is an increased evidence for their implications in the care of children and young adults. Their implication is simple and there is increased evidence that they can be effective and feasible to any health setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]