Stories for Change: Development of a Diabetes Digital Storytelling Intervention for Refugees and Immigrants to Minnesota Using Qualitative Methods
BMC Public Health 2015
RHCP partnered with Somali and Latino communities in Rochester, Minnesota to co-develop a culturally and linguistically tailored digital storytelling intervention aimed at improving type II diabetes management. Using a CBPR approach, they conducted focus groups to explore lived experiences across four domains: medication management, glucose monitoring, physical activity, and nutrition. Participants shared barriers such as cultural norms, family responsibilities, misinformation, and structural challenges like cost and transportation. Despite these obstacles, many found motivation through family support, faith, and fear of complications, and adopted strategies like adapting healthy behaviors to daily routines and seeking reliable health information.
Building on these insights, RHCP collaborated with the Center for Digital Storytelling to train eight community members—selected for their storytelling abilities—to create personal narratives reflecting their diabetes journeys. These stories were developed through a four-and-a-half-day workshop and compiled into two intervention packages (Somali and Spanish, both with English subtitles). The process fostered community ownership, empowerment, and capacity building, and the final products were described as powerful and motivational. While the intervention’s efficacy will be evaluated in future work, this participatory model offers a replicable framework for other communities seeking to address chronic disease disparities through culturally grounded storytelling.