Sharing the Patient Experience: A “Talk Story” Intervention for Heart Failure Management in Native Hawaiians

BACKGROUND: Native Hawaiians (NHs) suffer disproportionately from cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To test a narrative intervention of patient stories to support heart disease self-management in NHs. METHOD: Six NH storyteller videos were developed with community feedback following established methods. The NH participants with heart failure (N = 35) were recruited from a major medical center in Hawai‘i. Participants completed demographic questionnaires, watched videos via iPad, and described experiences. Follow-up was 4 weeks later. RESULTS: Mean participant age was 57.0 years (standard deviation [SD]:13.0) and 31% (11) were female. On a scale of 1 (worst) to 4 (best), respondents rated the videos 3.7 (SD: 0.5) in relevance for helping them manage their heart disease and 3.6 (SD: 0.5) in their experience using these videos. When asked what they liked best, the most common response was that they are “like me” (from 14 respondents, ranging from a 43-year-old woman to an 84-year-old man). Of those completing follow-up (n = 15), 87% said videos helped them. CONCLUSION: Our narrative “talk story” intervention showed promise as a culturally relevant method to share patient experiences and reduce health disparities.