Sharing Across the States: Strategies for Story Banking

One great way to help people relate on a deeper level to health care policy issues is to share the health care stories of others with them. The consumer story is one of the most powerful tools that health advocates can use to cut through these falsehoods, improve rapid response in the media, and strengthen public education efforts. As important and powerful as sharing consumer stories can be, it is also time consuming and challenging work.

For advocates who already manage full schedules with numerous responsibilities, story banking can seem like a daunting task. Here, a number of experienced state-based advocates share their best practices for story banking—from building the infrastructure in their organization and finding consumers to share their stories, to publicizing the stories, and much more.