The Art (and Science) of Storytelling in Public Health

August 11, 2025 | Taylor Francis

Storytelling is one of the oldest, most effective forms of communication. It is in the fabric of human experiences and conversations; we consume stories (e.g., when watching the morning news or listening to a podcast on the commute home) and tell stories ourselves (e.g., divulging the kids’ latest milestone to grandma and grandpa or recapping a meeting for a coworker) every day.

And yet, many important stories go unheard and untold, such as the heroic, everyday acts of the public health workforce — as well as experiences in the community that impact public health efforts (e.g., natural disasters, school bullying, birth trauma, homelessness). However, it is these stories that can help to secure and sustain public health support from decision-makers, policymakers, and the public alike.

What Is the Art of Storytelling?

The art of storytelling is using narrative to share information, typically for entertainment or education purposes. Many stories do both. And they can be written, spoken, or even conveyed visually through movements and pictures. In any case, storytelling can be a powerful vehicle for…

• Voicing accomplishment.
• Sharing experiences.
• Demonstrating values.
• Preserving culture.
• Learning from each other.
• Moving people to action.

Storytelling History and Evolution

Storytelling is built into humans — and our brains wired to receive/respond to stories — with some of the earliest examples dating back to cave drawings in France, as long as 30,000 years ago. Today, storytelling can look a little different, as many tell and consume stories through media (e.g., in a video on TikTok or a photo collage on Instagram), but more traditional storytelling formats like books and sharing face to face remain popular and effective.

Stories resonate with us in a unique way, even driving us to pass them down over centuries. One’s favorite fairytale is a prime example, likely originating generations ago. And, importantly, it might even contain a public health message. Think: Little Red Riding Hood sheds light on stranger danger, while Rapunzel and other princess stories bring awareness to abusive behavior.

Why Is Storytelling Important in Public Health?

Storytelling is important in public health because it allows those in the field to communicate their work in a compelling way to decision-makers, policymakers, and the public. This lends to securing the support needed to sustain critical health work. Furthermore, public health is often an invisible field until something goes wrong — many view it as emergency response or health care, when it’s actually preventing disease, promoting health, and protecting communities every single day. Storytelling can help bring light to this reality.

Additional Public Health Storytelling Benefits

Storytelling in public health also works to…

• Bring data to life.
• Make abstract information personable.
• Uplift untold voices.
• Move the public from fear to preparedness.
• Share work that is otherwise unseen.

Core Components of a Story

If you have the following three core components of a story, you have a solid foundation:

• Place, or where your story occurs. It’s important to consider all of the nuances of your public health story’s setting like geography, infrastructure, community, economy, and more that can come into play (e.g., a story about a public health emergency in Guam will differ greatly from a story about the emergency in Washington, D.C.).
• Person, or your story’s character(s). In public health storytelling, the main characters aren’t just public health workers, but also patients, policymakers, teachers, children, and even overlooked groups such as sanitation workers.
• Plot is the driving force that propels a story. In public health, plot often arises from a character’s goal (e.g., raising awareness for heart disease in a rural community) coming into conflict with a challenge (e.g., distrust in the health care system) — two things in opposition of one another.

Keys to Public Health Storytelling

In addition to the three core story components, public health stories hold a public health message and lived experience often informs them. For example, a public health story might focus on a real individual’s battle with lung cancer to prevent tobacco use or a community health worker’s account of a hurricane and the devastation left behind to raise awareness/funding. Notice, that’s narrowing in on one individual of the many to nurture that essential connection with your audience — more on this later.

Shaping Your Public Health Story

To illuminate and sustain support for your public health work through storytelling, start with a simple formula: beginning, middle, and end. The beginning contains the main event, while introducing your character and setting. The plot develops in the middle of the story, as your character confronts the hurdle to achieving their goal. And the end shows how the situation resolves — or doesn’t. Public health success stories can sometimes fall flat because the endings are often anticlimactic; consider telling what didn’t happen or worst-case scenarios to avoid instead (e.g., Epidemics That Didn’t Happen by Resolve to Save Lives) to garner interest and engagement. Another option is to tell where you hope to go next.

Sprinkle in dialogue, conflict, and other details to gain and keep your audience’s interest. Then, follow your base formula up with one final but essential step: reflection. What does it all mean? What will you carry with you? How did the character achieve their goal (or not)? In summary, be sure to get the main point across to your audience.

Solving Common Challenges in Public Health Storytelling

Public health storytelling comes with unique challenges. Here are a few examples of the most common and how to solve them:

• Numbers alone don’t sway: In public health, we often focus on populations versus individuals. This isn’t effective when it comes to storytelling because on the human level, we connect with individuals; we don’t make the same emotional connection with large groups. So, in your public health story, shift focus to one person. And be strategic about where you place your data.
• Identifying people with compelling stories: Search for individuals on social media (e.g., pinpoint Facebook groups for the population of interest). Find stories that are already in the news or collect them via evaluation forms at events. Ask a partner institution for referrals or work with community health workers to identify potential individuals. You can even consider telling your own story if you have a personal connection and you feel comfortable doing so.
• Staying true to training: Science is based on data and research, while storytelling relies on emotion. To remain authentic to who you are and your public health training, you can use direct quotes to let the character make that emotional argument for you. Or, tell a step-by-step account — put the audience in the shoes of the character to elicit the desired emotional response. You can also use sensory details (e.g., describe the vinyl seats in the hospital waiting room) to create empathy and transport your audience. Finally, consider pacing your story to create suspense; these climactic moments, when your audience is invested, make for the perfect time to insert data and information.
• Jargon: There are difficult concepts and terminology in public health that don’t always translate well outside of the field. And overuse can quickly cause you to lose your audience. To bring a tough public health concept down to earth, think about how you might explain it to a friend or family member, and frame it that way in your story.

Public health workers: It’s up to you to take the reins and tell compelling stories from your field — to both share this incredibly important work and get essential buy-in. The future of public health depends on it.