Reflection - Storytelling

Challenge & selection

Storytelling is a great tool that I use at my place of work every day. I work with the key  population in the community. I spend most of the time in the hospital and at the community  interacting with people who have received a diagnosis from an illness. Most of the time these  people end up to be so vulnerable in the community especially when they realize that they are on  life time/long term treatment. These people are more likely to encounter stigma and  discrimination within the community they live in. This can make them get lonely, stressed, easily  angered and can evenly develop depression resulting into poor adherence to treatment and  suicide. I engage on one on one discussion with the young people and the elderly who are  affected in one way or another. I let my clients share out their experiences and life challenges of  their day to day life and how they cope up. Most of the people I meet normally feel so relieved to  share their stories as I share my experiences and knowledge on an equal level. This in turn helps  them see life in a different and positive perspective way.

Application

With the story telling tool I have been able to take my colleagues through this and we now use it  on a daily basis since the scope of work is the same. This tool has greatly improved our  efficiency and interaction with our clients. We can clearly communicate and this will play a  bigger role in our overall performance as an organization. Using this approach is quite easy to  identify the unique needs of an individual. It is also a way of finding out the root cause of the  problem to people or clients who are not able to share out when asked about any challenges that  they encounter.

Through a support group I had established at the community level for people on life time/long  term treatment, I was able to pick up a young lady who was doing so poor in her treatment  journey while other people in the group were doing well. The health condition of the client kept  on deteriorating and we could not really figure out what was the problem, but through having a  discussion with her I picked out the social issues that were affecting her. She shared out her story  saying that she has been taking care of her four younger siblings with no source of income and  they are orphans and have no one to depend on. This made her worry and lose hope in life in turn  affecting her treatment.

Insight & Approach

The story shared really gave me an idea of what she was undergoing and it was a chance to share  out my story of an experience of my own. I shared the experience I had at first when one of the

children of a support group I had established from a previous project was diagnosed with an  illness which needed long term treatment and how I had to ensure that he gets to the hospital for  an admission then later on taking him for the scheduled clinic appointments. This was hard for  me seeing him going through all the pain he was feeling and having to take his doses without  missing and knowing well that he has no one to look after him since he is an orphan. I was happy  to share how the boy is on his journey to recovery and doing really well at the moment and he is  doing some casual work to be able to cater for his personal needs. From this story the lady  gained some hope and promised to get some casual work to provide for her siblings and be able  to stick to her treatment in order to regain her health back. I was encouraged that it worked well  and she was happy again and this time round more focused.

This gave me an opportunity to share this story to my team members and they were really  impressed on how I had handled the issue. This will be used as an example to make some  reviews on the organizations’ policies, an exercise which is currently underway.

This tool, especially the course itself has really helped me put my ideas into action and at the end  I see the efficiency and effectiveness of it and now I can take up the lead of my team members  and see how best we can boost our performance using this tool and what I have learnt in the  whole course.


Reflection - Storytelling Challenge & selection Storytelling is a great tool that I use at my place of work every day . I work with the key population in the community . I spend most of the time in the hospital and at the community interacting with people who have received a diagnosis from an illness . Most of the time these people end up to be so vulnerable in the community especially when they realize that they are on life time / long term treatment . These people are more likely to encounter stigma and discrimination within the community they live in . This can make them get lonely , stressed , easily angered and can evenly develop depression resulting into poor adherence to treatment and suicide . I engage on one on one discussion with the young people and the elderly who are affected in one way or another . I let my clients share out their experiences and life challenges of their day to day life and how they cope up . Most of the people I meet normally feel so relieved to share their stories as I share my experiences and knowledge on an equal level . This in turn helps them see life in a different and positive perspective way . Application With the story telling tool I have been able to take my colleagues through this and we now use it on a daily basis since the scope of work is the same . This tool has greatly improved our efficiency and interaction with our clients . We can clearly communicate and this will play a bigger role in our overall performance as an organization . Using this approach is quite easy to identify the unique needs of an individual . It is also a way of finding out the root cause of the problem to people or clients who are not able to share out when asked about any challenges that they encounter . Through a support group I had established at the community level for people on life time / long term treatment , I was able to pick up a young lady who was doing so poor in her treatment journey while other people in the group were doing well . The health condition of the client kept on deteriorating and we could not really figure out what was the problem , but through having a discussion with her I picked out the social issues that were affecting her . She shared out her story saying that she has been taking care of her four younger siblings with no source of income and they are orphans and have no one to depend on . This made her worry and lose hope in life in turn affecting her treatment . Insight & Approach The story shared really gave me an idea of what she was undergoing and it was a chance to share out my story of an experience of my own . I shared the experience I had at first when one of the children of a support group I had established from a previous project was diagnosed with an illness which needed long term treatment and how I had to ensure that he gets to the hospital for an admission then later on taking him for the scheduled clinic appointments . This was hard for me seeing him going through all the pain he was feeling and having to take his doses without missing and knowing well that he has no one to look after him since he is an orphan . I was happy to share how the boy is on his journey to recovery and doing really well at the moment and he is doing some casual work to be able to cater for his personal needs . From this story the lady gained some hope and promised to get some casual work to provide for her siblings and be able to stick to her treatment in order to regain her health back . I was encouraged that it worked well and she was happy again and this time round more focused . This gave me an opportunity to share this story to my team members and they were really impressed on how I had handled the issue . This will be used as an example to make some reviews on the organizations ’ policies , an exercise which is currently underway . This tool , especially the course itself has really helped me put my ideas into action and at the end I see the efficiency and effectiveness of it and now I can take up the lead of my team members and see how best we can boost our performance using this tool and what I have learnt in the whole course .